Welcome to another edition of Survival Weekly, where the real wilderness survival “reality show” plays out everyday, in the wild places around our world. These unscripted stories will give you insight to the true threats and challenges you may face in your outdoor pursuits. So sit back, relax, and read on to get a dose of reality to sharpen your most valuable survival tool. – BPO

Featured – 

Another great piece on ICE-SAR – http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-03-11/winter-storms-and-intrepid-tourists-keep-icelands-search-and-rescue-teams-busy

News – 

Winter Sports – 

Skiers call for rescue – http://icelandreview.com/news/2015/03/06/skiers-glacier-call-search-and-rescue

Stranded snowmobilers rescued – http://www.chaffeecountytimes.com/free_content/article_1ffda55a-c43d-11e4-ae1e-577093568655.html

Hiking – 

SAR for lost hikers – http://www.hometownstation.com/santa-clarita-news/breaking-news/santa-clarita-valley-search-and-rescue-seeks-lost-hikers-146553

Injured hiker rescued – http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/BREAKING-NEWS/SEARCH-RESCUE-PERSONNEL-LOCATE-INJURED-HIKER-NEAR-MT-PILCHUCK-2043867

Dehydrated hikers rescued – http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2015/03/08/police-search-dehydrated-hikers-indian-canyons/24620881/

Lost hikers rescued –  http://www.theprovince.com/Coquitlam+search+rescue+find+lost+hikers+near+Pitt+Lake/10872785/story.html

Hikers rescued – http://www.courant.com/community/manchester/hc-manchester-rescue-0311-20150310-story.html

Injured hiker rescued – http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2015/03/11/dsc-search-and-rescue-called-out-after-woman-falls-in-snow-canyon-state-park/#.VQD3V_lQMsM

Hunter-gatherer – 

Climbing – 

Golden Gate National Recreation Area (CA)
Two Vandals Rescued And Arrested By Rangers

Proactive ranger patrols and a vigilant public made this last week one of the more successful in apprehending vandals in the park. Rangers arrested five people and issued two more several citations on graffiti-related charges.

Two of the vandals arrested attempted to flee when contacted by rangers. While fleeing, they became stuck on a cliff face and needed to be extracted by a helicopter and technical rope rescue system. Click on this link for a news video of the rescue: http://abc7news.com/536624/.

Golden Gate NRA protects a large number of historic coastal defense structures that span the nation’s military past. These structures date back as far as the mid-1800’s and include red brick fortifications, concrete gun batteries, and cold war Nike missile sites.

Graffiti at these sites has become an increasing and costly problem. In addition to historic military sites, vandals have defaced rock walls, trees, roadways, signs, fences, benches, and more. The cost to restore all historic structures to their pre-graffiti state would cost well over a million dollars. In addition to the financial cost of graffiti abatement, vandals frequently enter closed areas, which can be not only hazardous but also damaging to natural resources.

Over the past two years, the park has conducted 20 operations focused on both the apprehension of vandals and graffiti abatement. During this two year period, 22 vandalism suspects have been arrested and 39 have been issued citations.

State and federal charges are currently pending for $20,000 in damages performed by two vandals at various sites throughout the park.  There are also four open investigations for similar damage amounts.  Rangers have worked closely with the District Attorney’s Office, Assistant US Attorney’s Office, Facebook/Instagram, Google, and many others in these investigations.

Injured climber rescued – http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/03/07/rescue-underway-fallen-poudre-canyon-climber/24574749/

Another injured climber rescued – http://www.standard.net/Police-Fire/2015/03/07/Fallen-rock-climber-rescued-by-Cache-search-and-rescue.html

Stranded climber rescued – http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/search-and-rescue-launched-vesper-peak-climber/nkSZL/

Water Safety – 

Search for missing snorkeler – http://www.cayman27.com.ky/2015/03/05/search-and-rescue-launched-for-missing-snorkeler

SAR for missing swimmer – http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/search-rescue-teams-scrambled-find-5293728

Crew of fishing vessel rescued – https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/islands/western-isles/516011/video-huge-waves-batter-fishing-boat-lifeboat-launches-dramatic-rescue/

Vehicles – 

Mammoth Cave National Park (KY)
Two Die When Van Goes Off Ferry Into River

On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 3rd, a van boarding the Green River Ferry from the south side of the river went off the far end of the ferry and into the river. The van drifted downstream about 100 feet and quickly submerged in 16 feet of water.

Flood conditions, including drifting debris, existed at the time of the incident.  The air temperature was 57 degrees; water temperature was 45 degrees.

The van was located a couple of hours later and was pulled from the river. The bodies of the two occupants, both from Munfordville, Kentucky, were recovered from inside the van.

The ferry is a cable-guided, three-passenger craft that is licensed through the US Coast Guard. An investigation is underway. The US Coast Guard is also conducting a parallel investigation.

Sixteen responding agencies from three surrounding counties and the state assisted in the incident.

Dive crews recover body from submerged car – http://www.wsfa.com/story/28278570/dive-team-recovers-body-from-car-in-creek

MVA call into searcg – http://www.wdam.com/story/28280976/one-vehicle-accident-turns-into-a-search-and-rescue-in-jones-and-wayne-county

Urban – 

Missing dementia and Alzheimer’s patients –  

• http://www.wsav.com/story/28396444/scmpd-search-for-dementia-patient
• http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2015-03-12/police-search-for-missing-woman-with-alzheimers/

Interested in learning skills to handle emergencies like the ones you read in Survival Weekly?  Check out BigPig Outdoors Survival 101 class  – http://www.bigpigoutdoors.net/survival-101-1.htm