[pct-l] Why you shouldn't rely on SPOT, GPS, and Cellphones...

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

The factual accounts are in. Absolutely Amazing!

Don and Austin--we in the El Dorado Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit have 
had an incredible summer dealing with just these sorts of situations. 
However, they have mostly been in the "Front-country" and, thankfully, not 
too far into the backcountry!



Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
1106A Ski Run Blvd
South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
    P: 888-996-8333
    F: 530-541-1456
    C: 530-721-1551
    http://www.mountaineducation.org
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Billings" <dbillings803 at yahoo.com>
To: "Austin Williams" <austinwilliams123 at gmail.com>
Cc: <Pct-L at backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 4:24 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Why you shouldn't rely on SPOT, GPS, and Cellphones...


> The way I read that article was the safety devices worked as they were 
> designed.
> It was
>
> the brains of the people described that weren't not working as designed !!
>
> And the following statement that portends to be genuine sounds way more 
> like an
> urban
> legend (i.e. BS) than real events.
>
> ""People with cellphones call rangers from mountaintops to request 
> refreshments
> or a guide;
> in Jackson Hole, Wyo., one lost hiker even  asked for hot chocolate."
>
> I've read that in some states, they have developed criteria upon which 
> they
> measure the 911
> call to determine if the person should be charged a hefty rescue fee or 
> not. The
> hikers who
> called for help three times in the Grand Canyon would have been 
> reallllllly
> unhappy with a
>
> $10,000 debt to the SAR service. The same type of critieria has been used 
> for
> several years
> even at the local level where at fault drivers are the ones who pay a 
> special
> fee due to their
>
> causing a traffic accident.
>
> If anyone on this board wants to read actual case studies of SAR 
> operations in
> Yosemite, I
>
> recommend "Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite." A thick book that documents 
> all the
> fatalities
> over the decades in which people (hikers, tourists, campers, park 
> employees)
> died through
> poor or non existent back country planning. In some cases the victim died
> not as a result of their own injury, but as a result of the rescue 
> helicopter
> crashing. There
> is a companion book on the Grand Canyon. One way to learn the "don't do 
> that"
> things.
>
> One of the more curious cases was a tourist who dropped his camera over 
> the
> railing
> where it lodged upon a rock. Upon attempting to retrieve it (by hanging 
> over the
> cliff),
> he went airborne straight down a 1,000 feet or so.
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Austin Williams <austinwilliams123 at gmail.com>
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Sent: Mon, August 23, 2010 1:08:29 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] Why you shouldn't rely on SPOT, GPS, and Cellphones...
>
> Good article by the NYTimes should remind everyone to rely on skills and
> being prepared.  Technology should simply be treated as a convenience.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/science/earth/22parks.html?_r=4&scp=1&sq=national%20park%20service&st=cse
>
>
> :)
>
> -- 
> Austin Williams
>
> www.PlanYourHike.com
> Info on PCT gear, resupply points, maps, movies, etc.
>
> "Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway."
> -John Wayne
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
>
> __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus 
> signature database 5391 (20100823) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>