Quasimodo



Trad climber CA Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 13, 2014 - 12:29am PT We were climbing a couple of routes on the south face of Tahquitz today. Both CHP and Sheriff choppers buzzed by us a half a dozen times between late morning and 5 pm. Around 6pm the sheriff chopper made two passes to drop two rescuers, one at a time, at the base of Lunch Rock. The free raps out of the quivering chopper was impressive. It appears Riverside Sheriff and Search and Rescue were training early in the day on the summit of San Jacinto when the distress call was made. As we walked down to the parking lot, seven more Sheriff and Search and Rescue we coming up the climbers trail. One member of the Search and Rescue told us the fatalty was on Who Done It and they were doing a "recovery".



The news (see link below) has it as a hiker death. It is tragedy for the family and friends of the victim. My condolences to loved ones of the victim. It was a somber walk down the trail for me and my partner after a fun and safe day of trad climbing. Reminds me that any great day could easily turn bad in a blink of an eye. Each day breathing is a gift.



http://blog.pe.com/breaking-news/2014/07/12/idyllwild-hiker-falls-dies-near-tahquitz-peak/



I was impressed by the effort of the rescue team. Except for the two very lucky boys that got to rap in from the chopper, the rest of the team labored up the climbers trail at the hottest time of the day, with a litter, heavy long pants, beefy black boots, Nomex long sleeve shirt and expedition weight backpack. Those boys were working hard. I bet they are working into the night tonight. I can't imagine carrying a litter down that steep and loose climbers trail. The Sheriff's staff get paid but I believe that most of the Search and Rescue guys we saw on the trail are volunteers. Cheers to the selfless volunteers for doing the grunt work!