Marin County teens help trapped Mount Shasta hiker in dramatic rescue
Members of an elite search and rescue team from the Bay Area are sharing their experience after saving the life of a hiker trapped 12,000 feet up Mount Shasta earlier this week.
MARIN COUNTY, Calif. - Members of an elite search and rescue team from the Bay Area are sharing their experience after saving the life of a hiker trapped 12,000 feet up Mount Shasta earlier this week.
The 39-year-old hiker from Florida fell into a crevasse on the mountain, located 275 miles north of San Francisco. He spent two days trapped at the bottom of the icy chasm with a broken leg before two U.S. Forest Service rangers managed to pull him out of the crevice.
Teen rescuers brave extreme conditions
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However, 60 mph winds and extreme weather made it impossible for a helicopter to reach that altitude, requiring ground teams to navigate steep, icy terrain, high winds, and loose boulders to carry out the extraction.
The 11-member squad from the Marin County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue Team, also known as Marin SAR, included five teenagers who braved freezing conditions to carry out the mission.
"We wanted to travel as light as possible, and so there was definitely a big consideration on what we were going to take," said 17-year-old team member Cody Davis.
Team member Jayne Wolk noted the extreme environmental factors surrounding the operation.
"This was definitely one of the more challenging things I’ve ever done," Wolk said. "It was really high terrain, really high winds."
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High-altitude extraction
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Once they reached the hiker, they provided medical care and began preparing him for transport down the mountain.
"His toes aren’t black, but his feet are, we’ll call them ice," rescuers noted during the operation.
Team members Nick Slanec and Charlie Pledger anchored themselves against the mountain face to operate a specialized rope system to safely move the patient down the slope.
"Nick and I braced, we braced ourselves on the rock and we were the anchor in the system that helped lower the patient," Pledger explained.
Slanec added, "Once we got up there, then we continued patient care and worked on getting him down the mountain."
The team lowered the hiker inch by inch down a steep, rocky slope to a lower altitude where a California Highway Patrol helicopter was waiting to transport him to a hospital.
"I think when that helicopter took off, we all had a collective great sigh of relief and excitement," team member Nathan Fischer said.
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Hiker now recovering
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Marin SAR Team Lead John Vanhoorn praised the young team members for their execution under pressure.
"They’re beasts, and they did a fantastic job. I could not have been more proud," Banhooser said. "And our team was fantastic."
The rescued hiker is currently recovering in the hospital, where he is being treated for frostbite and a broken leg. He is expected to recover.
The Source: Information in this story came from Marin County's Search and Rescue team, interviews with members of the team, including the teenagers who helped rescue the hiker. Editor's note: Nathan Fischer is a FOX employee.