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2009 Incident Response Log
November 26, 2009
Mutual aid request to Jonesville to assist with evacuation of a hiker stuck on a cliff, with a report of another who had already fallen off the cliff and sustained some injuries. The team was cancelled on arrival on scene as the subject had been lowered to safety by Colchester Technical Rescue. Subjects were uninjured and able to walk out on their own. (See news clip.)
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Couper, Govoni |
Many local FD & Rescue Squads |
17:15-18:00 | Overcast, 35 |
October 18, 2009
Requested to assist Waterbury Backcountry in search for 2 female subjects that did not return from a day hike on Camel's Hump on 10/17. Last seen at Wind Gap on 10/17 at 13:00. Located on Monroe Trail before arrival on scene. Subjects were uninjured and able to walk out on their own. (Read article.)
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Couper, Eykelhoff, Govoni, Reinhardt, Speer, Stewart |
Cambridge Rescue & Fire |
17:15-19:00 | Overcast, 40 |
October 10, 2009
Male patient with apparent lower left extremity injury proximate to the ankle. Most of he team was still at the station after the previous call on this same trail. Patient was unable to bear weight on left leg and was evacuated on a litter. Patient was approximately 1/4 mile up the Sterling Pond Trail. Due to the terrain, several belay stations were set up to belay litter. Patient was evacuated without incident and Cambridge Rescue Squad transported pt to Copley Hospital. (Read article.)
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Couper, Eykelhoff, Govoni, Reinhardt, Speer, Stewart |
Cambridge Rescue & Fire |
17:15-19:00 | Overcast, 40 |
October 10, 2009
Call came in as a subject with "Broken Back"on the Sterling Pond Trail. The subject had apparently broke her tail bone when she fell. Patient was able to walk and the team met her on the way down Sterling Pond Trail. No litter carry was needed.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Couper, Eykelhoff, Govoni, Speer |
Cambridge Rescue & Fire |
15:15-16:30 | Overcast, 40 |
September 25, 2009
A family of 4 was reported by 3rd party as having left their car at top of Toll Road and hiked to have lunch at the Cliff House. They found the restaurant closed and couldn't find trail back to their car. They called Stowe Mountain Resort to report their problem, who in turned called Stowe Mountain Rescue. Eventually after several tries we were able to reach them on their cell phone and directed them down the work road from the Cliff House, which they were able to hike down just by dark. Arranged for SMR security to give them a ride back to their car at top of Toll Road.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Van Dyke (by phone) |
None |
18:00-19:00 | Overcast, 60 |
September 20, 2009
The team was dispatched to a report of a hiker with a head injury a short way down the Sunset Ridge Trail just below the summit ridge. Initially there was difficulty in getting additional information, but eventually a Green Mtn. Club summit caretaker was able to locate the party and radio back an update that the subject was walking down the mountain unassisted. Underhill/Jericho FD and Colchester Tech. were requested to respond to Underhill State Park and start hiking up the trail to meet and evaluate the subject, and Stowe MR stood down.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Couper, Eykelhoff, Govoni, Speer, Selby, Van Dyke |
Underhill/Jericho FD, Stowe Rescue, Colchester Tech. Rescue |
16:00-18:00 | Clear, 75 |
September 2, 2009
Two lift maintenance workers at Stowe Mountain Resort fell off a ski lift tower they were working on when there was some type of failure in their safety equipment. They fell approximately 30 feet. One of the subjects suffered significant leg injuries and was transported down the mountain on a work road by pickup, then transferred to DHART helicopter for transport to Fletcher Allen Healthcare in Burlington. The second worker appeared to have suffered relatively minor injuries and was treated and released from Copley Hospital.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Selby, Stewart, Van Dyke |
Stowe Mountain Resort, Stowe Rescue, Stowe Fire Dept. |
14:15-16:00 | Clear, 75 |
August 16, 2009
Two 18 year old subjects took a wrong turn going up the Sterling Pond Trail and ended up in a steep scree filled gully. They felt unable to descend safely and called for assistance by cell phone. Team members climbed up to them and lowered them down two rope lengths. They were uninjured. While they made a poor choice in routefinding (and footwear) they were wise to wait for assistance in descending the tricky and dangerous terrain they had entered into.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Eykelhoff, Speer, Selby, Reinhardt, Van Dyke |
Cambridge Fire & Rescue |
14:00-17:00 | Clear, hot, humid, 80 |
August 15, 2009
A male subject jumped into "Triple Buckets" at Huntington Gorge and suffered a leg injury. Colcehster Rescue was just completing the evacuation from opposite side of the river, then low angle raise up to the road on our arrival.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Anderson, Couper, Govoni, Reinhardt, Van Dyke, Veliko |
Richmond Fire & Rescue Colchester Technical |
17:45-19:30 | Clear, 75 |
August 8, 2009
SMR received a report of a 76 year old woman at Bingham Falls requiring assistance / unable to hike back up to her car due to extreme fatigue and dehydration. Team member Speer was in the vicinity and went directly to the scene. Speer quickly located the subject, provided her w/water and assisted her in walking the approximate 1/4 mile back to her car. Upon her arrival at the road the subject refused any additional medical treatment or transport to a medical facility.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Anderson, Couper, Eykelhoff, Libby, Reinhardt, Speer, Veliko |
None |
13:30-14:45 |
August 3, 2009
Stowe Mountain Resort received a call from a subject stating they had a lower leg injury and they were on the Cliff Trail on Mount Mansfield. After a bit of a delay, the team's response was requested. The subject was actually above the Cliff Trail on the summit ridge of Mt. Mansfield, which made access by the toll road and walking along the ridge relatively easy. The evacuation took approximately 30 minutes to complete, and the subject elected to transport themselves to the hospital for evaluation.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Govoni, Reinhardt, Selby, Veliko |
Stowe Rescue, GMC Stowe Mountain Resort |
13:30-16:30 |
ARTICLE ABOUT LARGE NUMBER OF RESCUES ON CAMEL'S HUMP
July 30-31, 2009
The Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team (WBRT) received a report of an injured 54 year old female subject with a hip injury on the “Long Trail just below the Alpine Trail”. Cell phone contact was not reestablished leaving the subjects location as questionable (the Alpine Trail is “below” the LT on both the north and south ends of Camel’s Hump). WBRT established IC and deployed a hasty team of 1 and a litter team of 2 prior to SMR dispatch/arrival. Both the litter team & hasty team headed to the trail junction on the south side of the mountain. WBRT requested mutual aid from Stowe Mt. Rescue (SMR), Richmond Backcountry, and the Green Mt. Club (GMC). These teams joined the litter team to move the litter to the subject. The hasty team located the subject ~ 0.4 mile south of the Camel’s Hump summit on the Long Trail. This is a rugged section of trail south of Camel's Hump with 1.7 miles of difficult terrain including several long sections of ledges. Patient slipped while descending from the summit landing on her flank.. Patient was treated w/nausea & pain meds and immobilized w/a vacuum mattress and stokes litter. Evacuation route: south on LT through “Wind Gap” and down the Forest City Trail to the Forest City - Burrows Connector. Total route distance ~3.1 miles. The evacuation started ~ 2000 and the patient was delivered to Richmond Rescue in Huntington ~ 0300.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Anderson, Couper, Burdick, Govoni, Reinhardt, Veliko |
Waterbury Backcountry, Huntington FD, Richmond Rescue, Colchester Tech. |
16:00-04:30 |
July 16-17, 2009
The Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team (WBRT) received a report of an injured 17 year old male subject with an ankle injury on the Bamforth Ridge section of the Long Trail. The subject was located at the Bamforth Ridge Shelter. The shelter is 2.9 miles south of the Jonesville LT parking lot at ~ 2100' elevation. A litter team of 18 left the PL at 22:00, reaching the hasty team and subject at 23:30. The litter team started the evacuation at 00:06. The evacuation was very efficient requiring multiple low angle lowering / belaying systems and numerous litter passes over difficult terrain. The parking lot was reached at 03:30.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Couper, Eykelhoff, Govoni, Selby, Veliko |
WBRT, Green Mtn. Club, Richmond Rescue, Colchester Tech. |
19:45-04:30 |
June 27-28, 2009
A male subject hiking on the Long Trail north of Wind Gap on Camel's Hump injured his knee while descending some ledges and carrying his young child. The subject was immobilized and lowered down through the ledges in a litter. A wheel was then attached to the litter for the evacutation the rest of the way down the Forest City Trail.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Burdick, Eykelhoff, Selby, Veliko |
Waterbury Backcountry, Huntington FD, Richmond Rescue, Colchester Tech. |
16:30-1:30 |
June 20, 2009
Assisted Stowe Rescue in locating a child with facial laceration on Bingham Falls Trail. Subject had gotten out to trailhead on Notchbrook Road on arrival - turned over to Stowe Rescue for evaluation. No transport.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Van Dyke |
Stowe Rescue |
14:30-15:00 |
May 6, 2009
Four subjects became cliffed out on the north side of Smuggler's Notch near the hunter & dog feature. The had bushwacked up to the Sterling Pond Trail, then tried to bushwack back down but got off-route and ended up in a steep wet gully. They called for assistance, both verbally and by cell phone. Two local guides were bouldering in the area, heard the cries for help, and climbed up and lowered each of them down. Nobody was injured. SMR provided support but did not conduct the rescue.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Anderson, Eykelhoff, Govoni, Speer, Stewart, Selby, Van Dyke, Veliko |
Cambridge Fire & Rescue |
17:45-19:30 | Overcast, 55 |
May 2-3, 2009
The team's response was requested to assist Waterbury Backcountry with the evacuation of a female college student who had injured her ankle while hiking on Camel's Hump. The subject was located at the junction of the Monroe & Dean trails and evacuated by wheeled litter.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Speer, Selby, Van Dyke, Veliko |
Waterbury Backcountry |
22:00-01:30 | Overcast, 45 |
April 4, 2009
Report of an overturned/swamped kayak on the West Branch River, near Brook Road (end of bike path) in Stowe. At the time of the report it was unknown if a subject was trapped in the boat. SPD made contact w/the boat owner and determined the boat was not occupied. We remained on scene until the boat was recovered. A party of 3 put in just above the Matterhorn and 1 boat swamped, unfortunately a skirt was not being used. The kayak was on river left, just upstream of a shallow section followed by a left hand bend in the river. The boat was hung up on a tree/strainer close to the shore. The party made several unsuccessful attempts to dislodge the boat with SMR personnel working down stream safety w/dry suits & throw bags. The strainer was removed with a chain saw and the boat recovered in the shallow section just upstream of the left hand bend in the river.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Couper, Selby, Speer, Veliko |
Stowe Police, Stowe Rescue |
15:15-17:30 | Rain & 30's |
March 11, 2009
A party of two was snowshoeing up the Moss Glen Falls Trail when one of them got too close to the edge and slipped on the ice and fell approximately 50' down the steep rocky embankment into the river. He suffered multiple trauma injuries. The team lowered a litter and first responders down to the subject, then raised him back up to the trail. He was then further treated by a Stowe Rescue Paramedic and the team's physician before being belayed two more rope lengths down the icy trail to where he could be carried out to the waiting ambulance for transport to the hospital. The operation took approximately 2 1/2 hours to complete.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Burdick, Couper,Govoni, Selby, Speer, Stewart, Eykelhoff, Reinhardt, Van Dyke, Veliko |
Stowe Police, Stowe Rescue |
15:35-19:45 | Clear, 30's |
February 22, 2009
A party of 4 students from Yale University were reported overdue when they did not return from a day hike up the Long Trail. While information was being gathered the party showed up at the trailhead as the Police Dept. was checking on their vehicle.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Van Dyke, (by phone) |
Stowe Police |
18:30-19:15 | Snowing, windy, 20 |
February 21, 2009
Received a report from Mt. Mansfield Ski Patrol of a subject with a lower leg injury in the "Tusk" or "Birthday Bowls" off Spruce toward Smuggler's Notch. On arrival in the Notch subject was found already on the road. Gave a ride out. At same time there was also a report of two skiers confused in the area of the Chin on Mt. Mansfield who thought they might need assistance. They were able to find their way back to the ski area. While getting ready to depart the scene, another call was received from Trapp Family Lodge reporting a lost snowshoer. He found his way to a road before we were able to respond.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Burdick, Couper, Selby, Speer, Stewart, Eckylehoff, Reinhardt, Van Dyke |
15:15-18:00 | Overcast, 20's |
February 14, 2009
Snowmobile accident in the Cottonbrook area - subject was a passenger and got thrown off when driver lost control. Hit a tree and suffered significant head injury. DHART called and staged at Cottonbrook Rd. for helicopter transport. Subject treated on scene, stabilized, and transported by snowmachine approx. 7 miles to ambulance & helicopter. Transported to FAHC in Burlington by DHART.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Burdick, Couper, Govoni, Selby, Eykelhoff, Reinhardt, Stewart, Van Dyke |
Stowe Rescue, Stowe FD, DHART |
16:00-20:00 | Overcast, 20's |
February 11, 2009
Two subjects rented snowshoes from local ski shop and went for a hike in Smuggler's Notch leaving at around noon. Called the shop at 16:30 to give a brief description of where they thought they had lost the trail. Cell coverage then lost. Came out at their car just after dark. Had likely hiked up Long Trail, then back down Sterling Pond Trail, but had no map and didn't know where they were. No response other than some initial planning by phone.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Reinhardt, Van Dyke, Veliko (all by phone) |
None |
16:30-17:30 | Light rain, 35 |
February 10, 2009
Subject skied off the Bruce Trail and got lost. Followed phone instructions to ski drainage out to Bear Run trail where picked up by snowmachine.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Van Dyke (phone), Speer |
None |
17:30-20:45 |
February 7, 2009
Phone call from Ski Patrol reporting two brothers who had skied off the Toll Road and gotten lost. Had been in phone contact, then briefly verbal contact with them near the "waterfall." Turned over to us when ski patrol was ready to leave at the end of the day. Spoke with subjects and encouraged them to continue hiking back up following their tracks. Eventually got back to the Toll Road. One subject was exhausted and needed evac by snowmobile.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Van Dyke (phone), Speer |
Stowe Ski Patrol |
17:30-20:45 |
January 28, 2009
4 snowboarders took right turn off top of Bruce Trail and ended up on John's Road in fresh deep powder. We were able to talk them down to the nordic Bear Run trail where we picked them up by snowmachine. They fortunately had one flashlight and were able to continue to move after dark and follow our directions on how to get out of the woods.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Van Dyke, Veliko, Couper |
None |
17:30-20:45 | Overcast, 15 |
January 25, 2009
A snowshoer tripped coming down Pinnacle Trail on steep section below the Vista and felt a "snap" in lower right leg just above boot top. The subject was packaged and evacuated by litter to Upper Pinnacle Meadow, then by snowmachine to parking lot. The team was just returning from training when the call came out.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Anderson, Couper, Govoni, Eykelhoff, Speer, Selby, Reinhardt, Van Dyke, Veliko |
Colchester Tech |
13:30-17:00 | Clear, 5-10 |
January 18, 2009
Bolton Valley Ski Patrol called to request assistance looking for a skier who had borken their ski and was reportedly in the Cottonbrook area of Stowe. They were located on one of the Bolton nordic ski trais lbefore we could respond, and our response was cancelled.
| Team Members Responding | Other Agencies Responding | Time of Call | Weather Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
Couper, Eykelhoff, Van Dyke, Veliko |
Bolton Valley Ski Patrol | 14:15-14:30 | Overcast, 20 |
Want to Read More? Click Here for 2008 Responses
STOWE MOUNTAIN RESCUE
STOWE, VERMONT