Climber Fall at the Happy Boulders

At 15:07 on November 23rd, Inyo SAR was dispatched for an injured climber located approximately 1/2 mile along the trail to the Happy Boulders. She had apparently fallen from about 15 feet, and was complaining of severe back and ankle pain. More than 10 team members assembled, and a hasty team was deployed immediately. After […]

Overdue Climbers on Whitney East Face

On October 10 Inyo SAR responded to a report of an overdue climbing team of two. The reporting party stated that the two men had entered the Mt. Whitney zone via the North Fork trail the day before, with plans to climb Mt. Whitney’s East Face route. The East Face is a technical fifth class […]

Climbers Stranded on Lone Pine Peak

Two climbers were descending from the summit of Lone Pine Peak on Sunday, September 8. They chose the wrong descent chute from the summit plateau and ended up above a cliff, unable to descend further. They contacted a friend via cell phone, and the friend alerted Inyo SAR to their position and asked the team […]

HAPE at Elinore Lake

Severe altitude sickness can strike indiscriminately and without warning, affecting experienced mountaineers and first-time hikers alike. On the morning of Sunday, September 1, dispatch received a call about a patient in the early stages of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema at his 11,000ft camp by Elinore Lake in the South Fork of Big Pine Creek. Dispatch […]

Broken Ankle Extracted From E Ledges

Around 15:00 on Sunday, September 1, Inyo SAR was called to assist a woman near Upper Boy Scout Lake in the Mount Whitney region. She had injured her ankle after slipping on wet granite. Two rescuers from Lone Pine headed up the trail and reached the injured party around 16:30 just above the steep, exposed […]