tram station leaving people to die

[bluefintu]

I'm just glad everyone got home safe. I was there the week before and I kinda new the weather was going to be cold and windy when we went, I took lots of extra food for everyone. At 10am Monday, at the tram was 29%,it was way colder than that where we were. The wind blew but mostly above tree line, I almost got knocked down by a gust of wind heading back to the tram. It was cold and windy last weekend, this past weekend with 117 mile per hour wind? WOW!!! You could find my son and I somewhere in the dessert in our tent. But anyway, I think there should be a safer place for us hikers to have a safe place to stay. We're not animals.
Don

[wb]

Glad to hear that the hikers are in good shape. It looks like they came prepared for what they encountered, and so my hat is off to them. Speaking solely for myself, when I make the choice to head into the mountains, I do so understanding the risks and taking responsibility for providing for myself. The minute I begin relying on a private or gov't enterprise to be my safety net is the day I need to stay out of the wilderness. The best way to get myself into a real situation is to rely on the provision of something or somebody else. Respectfully submitted.

[KathyW]

Too bad about what happened, but it's a good reminder to be careful about going out into the backcountry when the weather forecast doesn't look so good. Those high winds were in the forecast.

[halhiker]

I think it's hyperbole to say they were abandoned and left to die. To say they had an uncomfortable night while dealing with a nasty weather condition might be more accurate.

Having said that, I think it's a shame that the Tram did not allow its station to be used to shelter these folks. I've been in the Tram after hours and it's locked tight as a drum inside there. There are locks on the booze in the bar, the refrigerators and the gift shop. The only food I was able to scrounge up was some unopened crackers from the trash. And the beer is unaccessible or I'd have consumed it.

I think whoever made the decision to shut down the Tram and leave these people up there made a stupid mistake. It'll be interesting to see if the National Press picks this up.

[TramWeatherCenter]

I warned this could happen two days before it hit. I just got off the phone chewing out the Desert Sun for not relaying my forecast when they put the forecast story out and they quoted InAccuweather and NWS with 70 mph wind gusts.

Read this link - http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS ... ntain.html


"A storm system moving into the area on Saturday will bring very strong winds for the mountain areas," said the alert. "Some eastern slope zones will have winds of over 90 to 100 mph in gusts."

"The High Wind Watch from TWS' Southern California Weather Authority was issued this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. local time. It is in effect and pending the High Wind Warning and the exclusive Hurricane Wind Speed Warning.

The Hurricane Wind Speed Warning is a weather alert for wind gusts of 75 mph or higher, hurricane wind speeds.

Several Southern California tourist locations lie within this warning. Big Bear Mountain, Snow Summit, Palm Springs, and the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway."

[sdtrackrunner]

Thanks for the info. Even without any warning from the folks that operate the tram, I just assumed it was likely to close given the weather forecast. Shouldn't this be a pretty common and reasonable assumption? It seems like people have forgotten to respect the weather as much these days. Its also quite common the hear about fatalities on one of the Cascade volcanoes (Shasta, Hood, etc.) during a big and well predicted weather event. This didn't happen this time, fortunately. I'm wondering if the pattern is something like: size of mountain X proximity to large urban centers = probability of underestimating the effect of incoming storms.

Not trying to pick on anybody... I'm as guilty as anyone of underestimating a storm or going out in one on purpose just to taste it.

[TramWeatherCenter]

You'd be surprised how many e-mails I get from people asking if the tram is going to be open with gusty winds in the forecast.

I probably range 100 e-mails a day, but I finally put all the Q and A for that day each morning in an auto-responder which should help.

[Andy]

It seems to me that the tram is only guilty of not going out of their way to be more accommodating to their customer base. Yes it is a shame that some better arrangements could not have been made to offer "better" shelter to the hikers, but that's a call that they made as a business. Not being there, I can't comment on whether or not notices were posted or announced regarding a potential early stoppage on that particular day, though the general forecast for extreme conditions was well known. I would also have to assume that the ranger on hand would have given "better" shelter to anyone in imminent danger of frostbite or hypothermia and at last resort initiated an evacuation (though unlikely in that weather). It should also be noted that there has been countless times when the tram has gone out of their way (when safe) to assist SAR teams in bringing "unprepared" hikers off of the mountain. That said, I would say this instance should be chalked up as a "lesson learned" for all parties.

and yes, this just two-cents coming from a guy who was warm at home Saturday night.

[bluerail]

I know that hunger when you start eyeing the trashcan, if they start leaving someone up there in emergency situations , I still say it should be one of the bartenders.

[HikerBlatt]

The hikers looked like they were prepared. The ranger saw that they weren't in any danger and he was right there should an emergency arise. Those hikers now have a hiking story that will last them a lifetime. Doesn't get any better than that.