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Woman with injured ankle
By
Kevin Walker
At a
little after 1:00 p.m. the phone rang at work
with the news of a rescue down in Palm Springs,
destination the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. I
was the first to arrive followed closely by Rob
Gardner. At the lower station Rob and I
interviewed James Newby, the informant. James
told us that he, Steven Rule, Tina Kuo, and Jill
Woelfle, all from Pasadena, were down to Palm
Springs for spring break. Their fellow classmates
were planning to ride the tram up in the late
afternoon and have dinner at the mountain
station. But this group of four had a more
challenging way to reach the top. They started
out from the parking lot H at the lower station
early in the morning. The group was well equipped
for the day hike, each having plenty of water,
extra clothing, food and other items of necessity
for the trip from the palms to the pines. The
only error was they picked the route north of
Chino Canyon instead of going up the Skyline
ridge to the south. By mid morning they could see
that their route was taking them away from where
they wanted to go, and that they had quite a bit
more altitude to gain to get to the top, so the
decision was made to descend back to the valley
station. The group went via the direct route,
taking a very steep chute toward North Chino
Canyon. About halfway down, Jill Woelfle
dislodged a rock weighing in the neighborhood of
600 pounds which rolled over ad pinned her right
foot. Her companions quickly tipped the boulder
back enough for Jill to pull her foot out. They
could not tell for sure whether or not her foot
or ankle was broken. There was no doubt though
that she would not be able to get out on her own.
Sgt. Dave Nordstrom from
the Banning station arrived, and after discussing
with James her approximate location and possible
injuries the decision was made to contact
Landells Aviation. As more members arrived, Rob
and I readied our packs and waited only a short
time for the arrival of mountain pilot Steve
DeJesus in helicopter 16 uniform. We loaded our
packs, strapped ourselves in and lifted off for
North Chino. As we gained altitude, I described
to Steve where we thought the remaining three
were. After making sweeps across the slopes of
the north side and reaching the top of the ridge
with no results, we then started a slow descent
back. Everyone on the team will have hot spell
for finding people, a lot of which is being in
the right place at the right time. Well this was
the beginning of a hot spell for me. About a
thousand feet below the helicopter in the shadow
of the ridge was something moving! I called out
for Steve to roll left. As we came about sure
enough we had located them. Steve spiraled down;
end ended up level with the group several hundred
horizontal feet away. The chute was a large one
with a very confined bottom, so we would have to
be careful not to roll rocks down on the trio if
we were to get out above. Steve did find a spot
where we could get out of one side slightly.
Steve put the tip of one skid onto a small
boulder in the mountainside and Rob and I climbed
out. Steve pulled away and returned to base to
wait for further instructions for loads and
equipment.
Upon
arrival, we found Jill resting comfortably on a
large flat boulder with two other companions
close by. It was Tina's red sweatshirt being
waved that I had spotted something to remember
when out in the wild. Back to Jill though, there
was some swelling at the ankle with moderate
point tenderness, enough to warrant fracture
precautions. This information was relayed to base
along with other items that would be needed for
the rescue operation. Second load in consisted of
Jim Fairchild and Walt Walker with brush cutting
tools. The brush hooks were handed out to Rob who
made some minor improvements to the site, enough
for Steve to let Walt and Jim out. With all three
working, the helispot was quickly ready for the
balance of members and equipment. Next were Bill
Blaschko and Henry Negrete, followed by Glenn
Henderson and Joe Erickson. Back at base was base
camp operator Bob Sairs and fellow member Jay
Pion and Ray Hussey who arrived late.
Steve returned to base and
shut the machine down and waited there as we went
about the business of getting Jill ready to go.
Dr. Bill examined Jill and then he and I placed
an air splint on the injured foot while the rest
of the guys set up anchors for rope belays,
cleared a small path to walk to the helispot, and
also cleared a little more room at the helispot
itself. Instead of using a stokes litter to move
Jill in, we used the teams Troggsitz. It is a
means of carrying someone on the back of another
person piggyback style. With anchors and belay
stations ready, Jill was strapped to the
Troggsitz, I got into the pack strap portion of
it, clipped in and then with the help of Bill and
Henry as outriggers for me to balance with, we
started out, first we traversed over about twenty
feet and then down about thirty belayed by Glenn.
Then we transferred to another belay by Joe, and
soon were at the spot. As gear was being gathered
I asked to radio down and have Steve start up the
helicopter, but Walt said to wait so that we
could make sure all was ready. As Jill was still
strapped to my back, I was a little anxious to
get the show on the road, (sorry Jill). I must
say that Jill was one of the lighter subjects we
have helped, so the wait was not all that bad. As
the photos that accompany this article show best,
once Steve arrived, using almost all present,
Jill was removed from my back and transferred
into the helicopter, and then flown back to base.
Steven and Tina were flown out next followed by
loads of RMRU members and gear until all that
remained was Rob and myself. Steve returned, and
what would become known as the THREE AMIGO's
returned to base. For Jill, X-rays showed no
fracture, which was good to hear. Some college
students may have had some excitement in the
springs. This foursome had some excitement of a
different sort up in the mountains known as the
San Jacintos.
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