This trip was more intense then most. It started normal. I left the house after dinner on Friday. I got to the trail head right around dark. By coincidence I ran into Joe (a host at the hut) and Jim (a guest for the hut that night). We hiked up in the dark. The moon was out and we didn't need to use our lamps at all. It was also very warm, I hiked up in a T-shirt and my ski pants with the side vents open. Once I was at the hut I started having stomach problems. I went to sleep pretty early and woke up a few times because of my stomach. I slept in a bit in the morning and finally got up and started up the bowl. My original plan was to go up the east side of the bowl. There wasn't as much snow on it in some sections so I followed everyone else up the big chute on the east side. There were a lot of other skiers up for the day so I knew it would be fun.
I was probably the third or forth person to start up the bowl that morning but I was eventually passed by a few others. I was so dehydrated. I drank 80 oz of water from the hut to the top of the bowl. I stopped right above the highest hiker in the picture below and put on my skis.
I got a shot of the West ridge from my high point. There is a ton of snow this year.
This is the picture looking down from my high point. You can see several more people coming up the trail. There were a lot of people in the bowl all day.
Since the other skiers were heading higher, I was the first one to ski the bowl that weekend. The corn was awesome. I was carving nice big turns with nothing in my way. I was even wearing shorts and a T-shirt. It doesn't get much better then that. About 1 minute later I was at the bottom of the bowl looking up. Other skiers started coming in from all directions. It was pretty cool. I lost count but there were at least 6 skiers and 4 boarders, probably more. The ski hut actually had piles of skis and boards out front afterward.
So far so good. It was a great day. We were all sitting around eating lunch out side the hut when all of the sudden someone comes running up asking for a doctor. One of the other hosts, a very skilled mountaineer, had slid uncontrollably from the top of the bowl to the bottom - over 1000 vertical feet. He had severe injuries. Everyone at the hut sprang into action, fortunately 3 of the people were Mt. Baldy ski patrol members and knew first aid and were familiar with these types of rescues. We all ran over with supplies, I carried the litter. They got him situated and we all carried him back to the hut. 2 people headed down to call 911 and one of the ski patrol members radioed the resort. He was conscious and his vitals were good. He was even chatty. He's a tough guy and I am sure he will pull through just fine. A helicopter was flown in by the L.A. Sheriff's department. It was amazing to watch the helicopter pilot. He couldn't land but he got close enough for two medics to jump out. We all helped the Air Medics with what ever they needed. I helped retrieve the litter when it was lowered from the helicopter into the bowl. We all helped carry him out on the litter towards the out house where the helicopter came back and retrieved the two medics and the letter with a hoist. It all happened so fast but actually took a few hours. It sure was a good thing that so many trained people were on hand to help out. The whole staff of the helicopter did a great job!
As if that wasn't enough, as soon as the helicopter took off a Taiwanese student came running up in sweat pants and a wind breaker. He was soaking wet and cold. He said his friend was still really high on the mountain and dressed like him. He had two other friends just behind him as well. The other two showed up pretty quickly after that. We got them inside and warmed up. Several people donated warmer clothes for them to use. Glenn ??? headed up to the 4th guy and helped him down since there was only about another hour of direct sun on the bowl. Once they were down and warm, Glenn and I hiked out with them to make sure they got back OK. They had hiked across the back bone trail and down the bowl. They were completely unprepared for the terrain and weather. I got home about 8:00 Saturday night, sun burned and exhausted.
4/25/05 - Update
Here is a picture of the helicopter with an Air Medic getting out. This was sent to me from one of the others on the mountain that day - Joe Reisz.
This is a picture from the front of the hut and without any zoom. They got the chopper right in there. It was amazing to watch. It's hard to tell from the photo but they were low enough for the Medics to get out and just step down to the ground.
