Members of the Unit participated as crew members of the Pierce county SAR helicopter during this search. On Tuesday September 9th Jeff Sharp acted as crew chief and helped ferry over sixty searchers into the search area. On Wednesday Ed Hrivnak acted as crew chief while Fran Mcfarland and Russ Brinton went over as observers. After ferrying searchers in and out of the search area they conducted an air search around Mt. Baldy. A full callout was scheduled for Saturday, but due to the untimely crash of another helicopter participating in the search and the loss of three rescuers the search was called off.

Body Recovery of Missing Hiker DEM #97-1840

The unit was contacted by Pierce County Department of Emergency Management on Thursday 9 October at 6:05 P.M. They requested that we help recover the body of an Army medical student who had died of hypothermia while on a day hike just west of Mt. Rainier.

Bryan Dumas had left on Sunday for a day hike to an area called Glacier View just south of the town of Ashford. When he didn't show up for work on Monday the Army listed him as AWOL. His family called the sheriffs department on Tuesday and listed him as missing. His car was found on Forest Road 59 about eight miles south of Ashford on Wednesday. A search by units from the Pierce county SAR Council and army units from Fort Lewis in deteriorating weather with blizzard conditions discovered his body on a logging road Thursday afternoon. Due to fallen trees from last winter's storms they were unable to get 4 wheel drive vehicles in to recover the body.

It was decided that they would try to fly in the County's SAR Helo Rainier One to recover his body on Friday morning weather permitting. If the helo was unable to fly eight members of TMRU were put on standby in case the body had to be carried out. The eight members responding were: Mike Mixon, Jim Creamer, Rick Wire, Bill Weber, Russ Brinton, Jim Lewis, Rob Lutz and Jeff Sharp. In addition five members of the McChord Combat control team were also placed on standby.

By 10:30 A.M. on Friday morning the weather had cleared enough that Rainier One was able to land at a spot a few hundred feet from the body. With Rob and Jeff acting as crew chiefs they were able to package the body and return by 1:00 P.M.

While characterized as an experienced level-head hiker Bryan had never hiked in Western Washington before. He left no word of where he was going and was dressed in all cotton clothing and smooth soled tennis shoes. They found no pack or any equipment that might have enabled him to survive in bad weather.

Search for Missing Hunters DEM #97-1896

The unit was contacted by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management on Saturday the 18th of October at 6:00 A.M. The unit had been requested by the Yakima County Sheriff to participate in the search for a lost 30 year old female hunter in the Haystack Rock area. Eleven team members responded they were: Mike Mixon, Jim Andrues, Chris Berryman, Stan and Angela Kartes, Jeff Sharp, John Kirkman, Duane Perham, Fran McFarland and Steve Stowell. After meeting at the rescue cache they proceeded to the Enumclaw area to rendezvous with other team members and then proceed via Highway 410 over the Chinook Pass to the search area. After meeting in Enumclaw they received a page from county DEM that the subject of the search had been found.

As they were getting ready to return to Tacoma they were paged to continue to assist in the search for a missing 79 year old hunter lost in the Goose Prairie Area. After arriving at the search base they were briefed that the search was for a 79 year old who was last seen around 4:30 P.M. Friday night. He had 30 years experience in the area and was well dressed for the conditions.

As the teams were getting ready to walk out of camp to their assigned search areas, the subject was found alive and well. The subject was quite surprised at the response of the search teams. He was one of the survivors of the sinking of the battleship USS Arizona in the attack on Pearl Harbor. He said if he could survive that he could survive a night in the woods.

Everyone returned to the Cache by 4:00 P.M.

Prez's Corner

Every time I think about the helicopter crash in the Olympic Mountains I get a sinking feeling in my chest. The loss of three rescuers for what? What good comes from this? I'm still looking for an answer.

I'm sure we have all spent a lot of time thinking about this crash and the way we conduct ourselves on a rescue. The board members have talked about the crash and we feel that Tacoma Mountain Rescue is a safe organization. We will continue to evaluate how we train, perform rescues and strive to keep the mission as safe as possible. (Remember when we used to use Jumars on rescues?)

If something does not feel right to you, please step forward and say something. The last thing I want to do is go to a member's house, and tell a wife / husband that their loved one is dead. Talk about the responsibility of leadership. I would like the team to think about this for a moment, especially the team leaders and operations leaders.

As a team leader or an operations leader one accepts the responsibility of the team. The leaders take care of the team and the team will take care of the mission. Effective now, team leaders and operations leaders are responsible for tracking where individuals are. This stands for the entire mission. If a unit member does not show up to the Cache or the designated rally point, I want the team leader to find out where that individual is. Even if it means delaying the mission. We must take care of the rescuers first, then do the mission. I hold the operations leaders accountable for what happens on a mission because I ultimately will answer to and accept responsibility for what went wrong. If it is a helicopter mission, I hold the primary crew chief accountable.

It has always been my philosophy that volunteers don't take risks. They don't pay us to risk our lives. If you volunteer to be in a leadership position, you accept the added obligation of accountability and keeping the team safe.

Ed Hrivnak, President.

Note About Callouts

IF YOU HAVE A PAGER and receive a 911 that does not exclude you (i.e. heli certified, swiftwater, super human strength....) PLEASE call the callout person and let them know of your availability, even if you CANNOT attend.

The S.O.P. of the callout person is to send the group page, page individuals not on the group page, then call members without pagers. After this, any pager holders that have not responded by this time will be called at home/work, no matter what time of day or night it is. Your prompt response to the 911 page will save many calls, and at 2 AM save you a wake up call within the hour!

ALSO, to keep our member roster up to date, please check the latest roster at the cache for correct information and call us with any changes of address, phone numbers (and whether it's OK to call you at work), status (if you want to be dropped from callout or mailing lists),etc...Leave a message at (253)581-6614. THANKS!!

AAC 1997 Annual Meeting

Every December the American Alpine Club holds its Annual Meeting to highlight the most significant climbs of the past year, honor individuals who have made contributions to the AAC and the climbing community as a whole, present the results of AAC-sponsored research projects, convene experts to discuss such topics as medical advances, environmental and access issues, mountaineering ethics and climbing safety, and to promote the sport of climbing. The location of the Annual Meeting changes each year, with the location usually rotating among cities located on the West Coast, Central US, and the East Coast.

The 1997 AAC Annual Meeting will be held on December 5-7 at the Double Tree Hotel Bellevue (formerly the Red Lion Hotel) in Bellevue, Washington, located just east of Seattle. Complete information about speakers and registration prices will be posted in the near future and will be available by calling the AAC office at (303) 384-0110.

Confirmed speakers for the 1997 AAC Annual Meeting currently include:

Charlie Sassara and Siri Moss -- Climbing and Skiing in the Wrangels. Spectacular adventures by one of Alaska s best climbing couples, including Charlie's recent first ascent of the East Face of University Peak with Carlos Buhler.

Lou Dawson -- Wild Snow: The Slide Show. The history of ski mountaineering in the United States and Canada by the first person to ski all of Colorado's 54 14,000-foot peaks.

Dan Mannix -- Northanger Expedition to Mount Foster. Retrace Bill Tilman's last voyage with footage from Mannix's Emmy Award-winning documentary about the first ascent of Mount Foster off the coast of Antarctica, including sailing to and from the climb.

Tacoma Mountain Rescue Unit Board Meeting September 24, 1997

Call to order: 19:55 hrs.

Board members in attendance:

Ed Hrivnak Alan Givotosky Chris Berryman Jim Howe Jim Andrues

Jeff Sharp Bill Weber Rick Wire Mike Mixon.

Others in attendance:

Gus Bush Stan Kartes Bridget Mullally.

The August minutes were accepted as revised.

TREASURERS REPORT: Jim Howe

• Balance sheet was read and motion was made to accept treasurers report Motion was seconded and passed.
• Review of insured drivers list.
• Jim Howe made up a form to be used when pre-requesting reimbursement for outside training from the SARC.

OPERATIONS: Ed Hrivnak

• Air search for missing hiker, Mt Baldy-ONP, two days. Discussion followed regarding helicopter crash. Safety issues were restressed in our operations and rescuers can choose not to fly if they feel safety is a concern.
• A CSI debrief was held at the West Precinct.
• Call out for this mission was reviewed.

TRAINING REPORT: Jim Andrues

• The High Angle training had 21 attending the class on Wednesday night, 14 on Saturday and 8 on Sunday.
• Next training is Urban Rescue.

EQUIPMENT: Jeff Sharp

• Looking to get Dynamometer repaired, Bill Weber to do.
• Jim Howe reported on some gear to be donated to the Unit, Ed to pursue.

COMMUNICATIONS: Stan Kartes

• Have two wet bags for radios.
• Stan Kartes to look into new cell phone for truck.

SAFETY AND EDUCATION: Ed Hrivnak

• McChord Air show - Rainier One and crew received good reviews. Would like to see more Unit members attend to help at the Rescue Truck.

MEMBERSHIP: Rick Wire

• Bridget Mullally was voted in at Field Support.

FINANCE: No Report

OLD BUSINESS

• Still waiting on Hot Line upgrade.
• Note: Hot Line is monitored by the media.
• Banquet: Ed is not available to cook!

NEW BUSINESS:

• PCSO has made available to the Unit the Emergency Notification program. The forms for the voluntary system on notifying family in event of death or serious injury will soon be sent to members, Ed Hrivnak to oversee.
• After discussion, a motion was made, seconded and passed to pay for cost of Jeff Sharp to attend the NATARS November 13-16 conference.
• Discussion of a MAST evacuation from Camp Hazard followed the distribution of a MRNP report and a rebuttle by MAST.
• Nominations for Secretary and Treasurer to be discussed at Unit meeting. Chris Berryman to take over Membership from Rick Wire in January.
• Jeff Sharp put forward the idea of using a Heli-Rescue course to help fund TMRU's portion of Rainier One's cost. The class would be open to all SAR agencies for a fee. Fee would cover costs plus instructors time with a predetermined portion going to TMRU. Discussion followed with positive comments.

GOOD OF THE ORDER:

• Climbing access on Mt Rainier was discussed.

Adjourn 2125 hrs.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Berryman, Secretary

Annual Banquet November 19 . . . 6:00 P.M. Mounteers Clubhouse N 30th & Carr St. Tacoma

Mark that date on your calendars and join us for a spaghetti dinner. The unit will provide the spaghetti with both regular meat and vegetarian sauce and soft drinks. If you want refreshment with a little more kick it's BYOB; members are asked to bring a side dish. Come and visit with old and new friends. New members and families are especially welcome.

The guest speaker will be Jim Nelson, a professional guide and owner of Pro Mountain Sports in Seattle. He is co-author of the popular SELECTED CLIMBS IN THE CASCADES, and has over twenty years of climbing in the Cascades plus the coast mountains of British Columbia including Mt. Waddington.

Pro Deals

Phil Pletcher and Jeff Richey are coordinating TMRU access to a variety of manufacturers for pro-deal discounts. Please contact them if you have specific kinds of items you'd like them to research.

Kit Party

The following members attended the kit party on Sep 3, 1997:

Shorty Williams John Simac Bill Weber Jim Andrues Gus Bush

Eric Hrivnak Julie Gleason Larry & Connie Crum Stan & Angela Kartes

They made 450 Kits.

Remember the kit party is 7:30 P.M. the first Wednesday of the month at 2905 Parkway Dr. W. If you need directions call Shorty Williams at 564-0581. We need your help.

Election of Officers

At the general membership meeting on the 8th of October Fran McFarland was elected the new Secretary, and Larry Crum was elected the new Treasurer. Congratulations!

©Copyright 1997 Tacoma Mountain Rescue