Two stranded backpackers were rescued from an isolated ridge in Mono County this month.
Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team
Picking his way down an icy couloir in the High Sierra, the backpacker arrived at a ledge he couldn’t descend. But he’d gone too far and also couldn’t climb out.
He was stranded in the snow — cliffed out in the cold shade of a crumbling ridge where a misstep could have sent him careening into an 800-foot fall that would have been fatal.
His partner, who had waited atop the ridge while his friend forged on, had just enough cell reception to call 911.
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That kicked off an emergency high-altitude rescue last week in Mono County that required 12 highly trained mountain experts, a rescue helicopter and a bit of good fortune, according to Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team public information officer Mitchell Quiring.
“They were saved by having one little weak bar of cell service — just enough to call for help,” Quiring said. Also, he noted, the incident occurred during a rare break in a weekslong period of rough mountain weather that opened the door for a swift rescue.
“All in all, they were very lucky,” he said.
Two stranded backpackers were rescued from an isolated ridge in Mono County this month.
Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team
The backpackers, characterized by Quiring as 20-somethings from Southern California, had set out from a trailhead off of Highway 395 for a short multiday wilderness trip in the Virginia Lakes area. That pocket of isolated high country, between Yosemite National Park and Mono Lake, is popular with hikers and trout anglers this time of year and among backcountry skiers in the winter.
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On Oct. 7, after having spent a day or two trekking into the Virginia Lakes basin, the backpackers opted to return via a different and much more technical route than the one they’d taken into the area. Somehow, Quiring said, they ended up ascending the steep pitch of a jagged ridge above Burro Lake.
From a notch atop the 11,300-foot ridge, they found themselves looking down the other side at an icy, 50-degree chute plummeting hundreds of feet toward a snowfield. Rather than turn back, one of the backpackers attempted to descend on foot in his hiking boots; the other remained at the top of the ridge and watched.
Two stranded backpackers were rescued from an isolated ridge in Mono County this month.
Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team
“They were completely unprepared to be in this consequential, technical terrain — both experientially and equipment-wise,” Quiring said.
Such a descent necessitates mountaineering gear like ropes, harnesses, helmets and foot traction that the backpackers lacked, he said. Also, they hadn’t brought a satellite communications device to an area with spotty cell service.
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About 100 feet downslope, the backpacker arrived at the ledge and decided he couldn’t safely continue down but also couldn’t boot his way back up. His partner in the notch called for help at approximately 1 p.m.
The alert was forwarded to the Mono County search and rescue team, a volunteer group of 42 individuals who perform high-risk missions to save people who become lost or hurt in the Eastern Sierra. They’re called to about 40 emergencies per year, Quiring said.
Two stranded backpackers were rescued from an isolated ridge in Mono County this month.
Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team
Days of ice storms and wind gusts had subsided that afternoon, allowing a California Highway Patrol helicopter to fly reconnaissance over the ridge and spot the stranded backpackers. In some circumstances, rescuers would attempt a helicopter hoist extraction, but the crumbling shale ridge made that too risky, Quiring said.
“When we saw where they were, there was concern about the helicopter’s rotowash knocking loose debris onto the subject,” he said.
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Instead, the helicopter inserted six rescuers — two at a time — at a nearby pass. After reaching the top of the ridge on foot, rescuers escorted the backpacker who had called for help to the helicopter. He was flown back to the trailhead.
To reach the backpacker stranded in the couloir, rescuers drilled a bolted anchor into boulders on the far side of the ridge, rigged a rope system and sent one person in a harness down the couloir. The rescuer found the backpacker to be chilled but ambulatory, then helped him into a warm jacket, helmet and harness. In the notch above, two rescuers hauled the pair up the icy slope to safety.
Two stranded backpackers were rescued from an isolated ridge in Mono County this month.
Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team
In total, the mission took about 6 hours. The last rescuers were flown out just before a hard deadline at sunset for the CHP helicopter.
“There wasn’t a minute to spare,” Quiring said. “Everything worked exactly as it should have that day, which is good because we didn’t have any margin for even an extra hour out there.”
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Quiring said the backpackers could have avoided getting into trouble above Burro Lake had they been more familiar with the route and topography before setting out, and also by having a higher acumen with the mobile mapping apps they were using to navigate.
Also, he said, “Don’t get yourself into something you can’t get yourself out of. They were lucky with the phone service. If they’d been unable to call out, that could have been a nail in their coffin.”