Saturday heli-evac from Snow Lake

Climbing was quick and easy with ski crampons on skinny skis- and if we'd left them on for another 5 minutes we probably would have been in the clear.

yeah that makes sense. and that eastern gully before you get to Kaleetan may have softened by the time you got there too.
Sorry it turned out as it did but I'm happy you're OK and that Dave is on his way to healing!
Hope to read a Kaleetan TR with you two in the future!

John,
Thanks for writing this up.  Dave wasn't the only one who got hurt on Saturday; I am glad he had his helmet on.  Hope he will get better soon! A big thank you to everyone involved in rescue.

I was one of the three hikers who responded to John's call for help. I wanted to mention that John did a great job tending to Dave while we waited for the SAR team to arrive. While Matt and I dug out the platform to be able to safely move around on the slope, John kept Dave comfortable and alert while trying to keep his mind off of the injuries he had suffered. Having seen the cliff that he fell from, it amazes me that the injuries weren't way more severe and I am so glad that he was wearing a helmet.

To end this eventful day, John even had some ice cold beers that he gave us back at the parking lot. Much appreciated.

Hope Dave is recovering well.

Kudos, mtndfndr!

John - thanks for the write up - I'll be better prepared if I find myself in a similar situation.

I was on the first SAR team (SPART/CBSP, and ESAR) to deploy from Alpental. On the way we met one of the three campers mentioned above. He gave us the details on the situation. Once we were are Source lake, the helo came in and took the subject away. There wasn't much else for us to do except use the helo's tag line to belay one team member who downclimbed to get the subject' poles and one ski above the cliff. We brought the gear, so no reason not to use it!

I have to say that the two Matts and Rob were really heros in this situation. They responded to the calls for help, called and went for help, brought warmth, and prep'ed the site for the extraction. Way to go guys! The shorts, I am not so sure about...