[pct-l] Scott: Rescue at Denny Creek

[cvano at tmail.com]

There were 10 people on the mountain that day in three seperate 
parties.  5 did not come back, 2 more were injured, and 3 have yet to 
even be found.  That's 10 people that either misinterpeded or got the 
wrong weather forecast.  Apparently the Sheriff's dept and SAR also got 
the same one.  The weather question has been talked to death and 
millions of fingers have been pointed because of it.  The information 
was available.  We didn't find it.  It happened.  There is nothing we 
can do to change that now as I sit here about to lose a toe.  This blog 
was about us from the first rescuer to reach us.  Scott will always be a 
larger than life Superhero to me, weather notwithstanding.

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 8:11 am, Greg Kesselring wrote:
> Interesting reading.  Thanks for posting.  Once you guys got into 
> trouble, it seems like you did everything right. 
>
> However, I would take issue with his statement that the forecast called 
> for only 1 to 3 inches of new snow.  Here is the actual forecast for 
> the West Slopes of the Central WA Cascades that the National Weather 
> Service posted at 4AM Saturday morning, December 1 .  That forecast is 
> shown below.
>
> The 1 to 3 inches was for Saturday during the day.  They forecast an 
> additional 6 to 10 inches for Saturday night and another 8 to 14 inches 
> for Sunday.  If you take the high end of the range, you get a total 
> snowfall of 27 inches by end of day Sunday.  That's quite a different 
> picture than the 1 to 3 inches he states in his account.  More than two 
> feet of new snow forecast by end of day Sunday.
>
> As I said, what you did once you got into trouble was remarkable.   
> However, with a forecast of more than 2 feet of new snow, I believe the 
> trip leader realized that it was an error in judgment to go ahead and 
> do the trip.  He offered an apology for this on the website that 
> organizes these trips.
>
> My point in writing today is not to point fingers or cast blame.  But 
> rather to point out that the entire Search and Rescue operation could 
> have been avoided if the party had gotten an accurate forecast and 
> taken the forecast seriously.  If they don't see that (and it seems 
> like some of them don't when they make statements like "weather 
> forecast of light snow shower with an accumulation of only 3 to 5 
> inches."), then nothing's been learned (regarding weather forecasts) 
> and it's possible that they could find themselves in a similar 
> situation in the future.
>
> ZONE FORECAST PRODUCT FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON
> NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
> 400 AM PST SAT DEC 1 2007
>
> WEST SLOPES CENTRAL CASCADES AND PASSES-
> INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...DARRINGTON...MARBLEMOUNT...CONCRETE...
> INDEX...SNOQUALMIE PASS...RANDLE...PACKWOOD...ASHFORD...MORTON
> 400 AM PST SAT DEC 1 2007
>
> ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 AM
> PST MONDAY...
>
> .TODAY...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 3 INCHES. AFTERNOON PASS
> TEMPERATURES 19 TO 26. SOUTHEAST WIND IN THE PASSES AROUND 10 MPH.
> .TONIGHT...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 6 TO 10 INCHES. SNOW LEVEL
> BELOW 500 FEET. EAST WIND IN THE PASSES 10 TO 15 MPH.
> .SUNDAY...SNOW. WINDY. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 8 TO 14 INCHES. SNOW
> LEVEL 1500 FEET. AFTERNOON PASS TEMPERATURES IN THE 30S. SOUTHWEST
> WIND IN THE PASSES 10 TO 20 MPH SHIFTING TO THE EAST 15 TO 25 MPH IN
> THE AFTERNOON.
>
> cvano at tmail.com wrote:
>
>> This is Scott!  The first guy to step into our camp that day and say
>> 'Hi.  I'm Scott.  How you guys doin?'.  Please read this.
>>
>> http://scottstaton.blogspot.com/2007/12/rescue-at-denny-creek.html
>>
>> It's not the Mountains that we conquer,
>> but Ourselves.  Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008
>>
>> Ol' Three Toes aka Chris
>> S/V Drifter ~~~_/)~~~
>> Anacortes, WA.
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>

It's not the Mountains that we conquer,
but Ourselves.  Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008

Ol' Three Toes aka Chris
S/V Drifter ~~~_/)~~~
Anacortes, WA.