Social Commentary, Technology and Society

Search And Rescue In Tenaya Canyon

7 Comments

There are some lessons to be learned here. We were just up there ourselves a couple weeks ago. People don’t realize how rugged it can get coming down from the high country into Yosemite Valley, even though most of the routes are pretty well known after many decades of hiking/climbing. Without modern tech (cell phones and helicopters), they might have died from exposure up there, even in the summer.

7 thoughts on “Search And Rescue In Tenaya Canyon”

  1. People die in this area every single year, no matter how many times they are warned not to do stupid things…

  2. I’d say it’s more dangerous than my neighborhood in Yellowstone National Park due to how easy it is to get somewhere very dangerous in Yosemite. In Yellowstone, I would guess that there are probably an order of magnitude more deaths due to traffic accidents and altitude-related illnesses than to people doing stupid things in the backcountry or on the lakes.

    1. Hmm, thinking about it, boating and drowning accidents are supposed to be fairly common too in Yellowstone. Most of the lakes are pretty cold (below 50 degrees) so one can die of hypothermia (in about 15-30 minutes, after immersion in Lake Yellowstone, is the claim I heard).

  3. ” Without modern tech (cell phones and helicopters), they might have died from exposure up there, even in the summer.”

    In addition to cell phones, there’s also the life-saving technology of digital photography. Just think about, prior to digital photography, how many died of over exposure….

  4. As someone who has done stupid things in the backcountry and survived to tell about it, being prepared is a big part of keeping stupid from becoming deadly.

  5. Earl.

    The entire range of science fiction sets and props (as far as control rooms, controls, communication, etc.) all seems so quaint after just a little time with any tablet. Yes, they aren’t as fault tolerant – but all of those props were apparently made out of high explosives anyway 😉

    Seriously, looks like a pretty useful widget.

  6. Sounds like a couple training for the Darwin Awards, pity that rescuers had to risk their lives to save them.

    Unfortunately a similar incident nearby on Mount Charleston outside of Las Vegas turned deadly when one of the first responders was killed while rescuing a fool who ignored danger signs and got stranded…

    http://www.startribune.com/nation/216581541.html

    Officer killed in fall while rescuing hiker from marked area of Mount Charleston near Vegas

    Article by: HANNAH DREIER , Associated Press
    Updated: July 23, 2013 – 5:20 PM

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