Glendale News Press

Rescue reaches new heights
Vertical Ice Response Team formed to assist with emergency services on mountains.
By Tania Chatila
(Published: April 5, 2006)

LA CRESCENTA -- After watching her friend fall 500 feet from the top of an icy ridge to the Angeles Crest Highway below, Adrienne Benedict knew she wouldn't be able to safely descend the icy mountainside she was on, near Wrightwood, Calif.

"I was just not experienced enough and quite frankly, I was a little freaked out to get down by myself," said Benedict, of Thousand Oaks.

Luckily for Benedict, she didn't have to make the climb down alone. A pair of trained members from the Montrose Search and Rescue Team's newly formed Vertical Ice Response Team came to her aide.

"I am so grateful to them," Benedict said. "They put their lives in danger coming out for me."

The Montrose Search and Rescue Team officially organized its Vertical Ice Response Team at the beginning of this year, said Mike Leum, who helped spearhead the effort for the new team.

"Basically, there were numerous hikers who ended up dying last year on Mount Baldy as a result of slipping down these vertical ice chutes created around the mountain," he said.

At the time, members of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team were only able to hike to the top or the bottom of those chutes, making the 1,000 feet in between only accessible by helicopter, he said.

"As a result, I thought we should be able to climb up those ice chutes and be able to check them with certainty," Leum said.

Last March, a small group comprised of deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's emergency services detail and members of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team received professional training in vertical ice climbing.

They also received a $2,200 grant from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Reserve Assn. to purchase specialized equipment for ice climbing, Leum said.

"This just expands our capability to be able to get into places that are not as accessible," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy John Grisbach, one of six members of the Vertical Ice Response Team. "Any time you're in the business of saving lives ... you want to do the best you can."

In the incident with Benedict in February, rescue team members -- one of whom was Leum -- were able to save about five minutes by actually climbing up the vertical ice chute instead of taking a surrounding trail, Leum said.

"In mountain rescue, five minutes can be the difference between life and death," he said.

Since there are no other teams like this in Los Angeles or San Bernardino counties, Leum expects the Vertical Ice Response Team will be called out several times a year by different local counties for rescue missions.

But no matter what the usage, the experience and training of the team is very beneficial, Grisbach said.

"Who knows, we could have two incidents for one year and none for three years, but at least we know our capabilities," he said. "It certainly makes you that much more comfortable in the whole alpine environment."

For Benedict, whose friend died in the February accident, the training was imperative for her survival, she said.

"All I can say, is thank God there was a trained team of people to come out and get me," she said.