Man left behind
By Jim Garvey
The feeling
that I had been through this before began while
Kevin Walker was describing the situation over
the phone. Two climbers on the North Face of San
Jacinto, one hiking out to the tram, the other
spending two nights out with little equipment.
I mentioned to
Kevin that this seemed just like last week's
mission, which was also on the North Face with
very similar circumstances. Jokingly I asked if
Hooman Aprin was involved; he was the climbing
partner of the subject on the last North Face
mission. Questions were raised as to Hooman's
responsibility and mountaineering judgment in
leaving his partner on the North Face because he
couldn't keep up the pace of the climb.
Imagine my
surprise when Kevin informed me that yes, it
appeared that Hooman had again become separated
from his partner, Thomas Plyer, on the North
Face.
5:30 a.m. came
all too soon. RMRU members began arriving in Base
Camp at the Snow Creek road before first light.
Mary Bowman, RMRU's Base Camp Operator, arranged
for hot breakfasts, which were greatly
appreciated. A team had been sent hiking to the
Isthmus the night before to seal off the lower
section of the route.
At 6:30 a.m. a
Hughes 500-D from Western Helicopters arrived.
After briefing the pilot, Pete GiIIies, Kevin,
Bernie McIlvoy and I took off. Pete is an old
friend and experienced mountain pilot. We flew
back and forth across the precipitous North Face
close enough to the rocks to keep everyone's
attention focused on the terrain.
Our plan
called for Kevin and I to be dropped out near the
summit of Mt. San Jacinto to begin the ground
search. Bernie would stay in the helicopter and
air search the back of the peak down to Little
Round Valley before returning to base for more
field teams.
Immediately
after the helicopter lifted off, Kevin and I
heard someone yelling. Looking east toward Frank
Miller Peak about one-half mile down the ridge we
spotted a person frantically waving. In our
excitement we tried yelling at the helicopter,
then used the radio, which worked much better.
The helicopter circled back, got visual contact
with the subject and landed a little below him.
Mr. Plyer was indeed, overjoyed at being rescued.
Bernie helped the subject into the helicopter and
flew to base.
In a few
minutes the helicopter returned for Kevin and I.
By 9:00 a.m. we were back in base with the
mission secure. The subject was lucky; the
weather was relatively mild and he came through
his ordeal in good shape.
Footnote: A
more bizarre aspect of this mission was how RMRU
and the Sheriff's Office were alerted in the
first place.
Hooman was
visiting Winfred Blevins, the subject from the
first North Face mission in the Palm Springs
Hospital. Apparently Hooman mentioned
"they" had climbed the North Face in
one day and had looked for Winfred's lost
sleeping bag. Winfred asked Hooman about
"they" and where his climbing partner
was. Hooman said that "they" had gotten
separated below the summit the day before and he
hadn't seen him since. At this point Winfred
called the Sheriff to let him know that RMRU had
another search on its hands.
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