Field trips 2.0

[BC witness]

It's probably been 30 years since I was last at Koocanusa. Great country, but long road trips are scarce these days since my wife can no longer handle those.

[Catmandoo]

On 4/13/2025 at 5:58 PM, Trogluddite said:

Thanks.  I was surprised at how infrequently this topic came up on the Forums.

 

Using the search button, enter "locator", do not use the words 'personal' or 'beacon'. Your options depend on how much you want to spend.

 

If you have not purchased a unit(s) yet, REI has some sales currently.

[langfordbc]

@norseman Cool. I'm down in that country (north of the border) for the first time in my life this week - the last part of BC I haven't spent time in. A few days of work in Cranbrook and Fernie, about 100 miles north of Kalispell. Man, it is beautiful down here.

[Madison5716]

On 4/13/2025 at 7:47 AM, Trogluddite said:

Question from an amateur - any recommendation for the better satellite emergency communicator, Garmin or Spot or "other"?  My wife and I are planning our first hiking trip where I'm concerned about being out of cell service and needing comms in an emergency.  (NOTE: This isn't the first trip where I should have had one of these things; it's just the first trip where I'm being a little less dumber than normal.)

 

I always carry my Garmin InReach Mini. I know less about it than I ought. That little SOS button does give me peace of mind... if I or someone else was literally at risk of dying. There's a popular hiker out there recently who had to push the button for rescue and now has a $30k bill. 

[BC witness]

What's the 30K bill about? Here in Canada SAR services are free. Charging for rescue could deter some people from doing so when they should, with possibly deadly consequences.

[Huntster]

Here in Alaska, it can go several ways. I've been extracted by emergency. The State Troopers were contacted about me being shot in the wilderness. They contacted a private helicopter EMT firm, perhaps because of the description of my injury (shot in the head). I was billed by the emergency EMT firm, and my health insurance coverage (very reluctantly, and after some coaxing) covered the helicopter and medical issues after the customary deductibles (about $1000). The total bills came to @ $45K (this in 2001).

 

Usually government rescue personnel are sent on attempted ascents of Mt. McKinley that have gone awry, since that's within a national park.

 

A friend broke his back in a snowmobile accident, and the guy who called it in used a radio on an aircraft frequency. He caught an Army Air Guard helicopter in the air, they diverted and picked him up, and delivered him to the hospital.........free of charge. They billed the time to "training exercise".

 

The Coast Guard rarely bills........unless you're an idiot. One guy, on a deer hunt near Juneau, pushed the emergency button on his communications device. When the Coast Guard showed up in a helicopter, he asked if any of them had any cigarettes, that he had run out, and really needed one. He was transported to Juneau and turned over to local police.............

[norseman]

58 minutes ago, BC witness said:

What's the 30K bill about? Here in Canada SAR services are free. Charging for rescue could deter some people from doing so when they should, with possibly deadly consequences.

I had a 25k helicopter bill going from the Colville hospital to the Spokane hospital. I got myself to the Colville hospital by car. Heart attack.

 

We don’t pay the same taxes I guess. 

[Huntster]

2 hours ago, Huntster said:

........Usually government rescue personnel are sent on attempted ascents of Mt. McKinley that have gone awry, since that's within a national park.........

 

I thought I'd expand on this a bit:

 

Ascending Mt. McKinley has become a big goal for many mountaineers. It's the tallest mountain in North America, but what makes it particularly dangerous is its high northern latitude in addition to its height. Even in mid-summer, temps in its upper regions remain well below zero and are worsened by the high winds. It was only in recent times that an ascent to the top in winter was achieved. Before that, it was suicide, and it remains near suicide.

 

There have been many deaths there, and they occur every year. The first this year was just the other day. The National Park Service and Army Air Guard got pretty frustrated with the dangerous rescues and body recoveries a couple of decades ago, and since the mountain is in a park, they have the ability to highly regulate climbers. The park service began a bonding requirement some 20-25 years ago. This way the government could recoup some of the costs of all those rescues.