A California Highway Patrol AS350B3 helicopter.  To serve and protect from the air.  Courtesy ALEA

Congratulations to Officers David White and Steve Ward of the California Highway Patrol.  These are the two heroes that crewed helo N216HP, an AS350B3 “High, Hot, and Heavy” model from Eurocopter, that found the Dominguez family yesterday in the mountains of northern California.  Having been on missions just like this, I can tell you that this “miracle” could just as easily been a “tragedy”.  What made the difference?  The hand of God?  Good luck?  I don’t know but I do know that if it were not for this air crew pushing the envelope and putting it all out on the ragged edge for people they did not know, it would have been a very different story.  Well done gentlemen.  This we do that others may live.

I don’t want to beat these people up but for training purposes, let’s look at just the basic mistakes this father and three kids made.  Critical mistakes that almost cost them their lives.  First, they failed to tell a responsible person exactly where they were going and when they were supposed to be back.  They were not reported overdue or missing for a full 24 hours.  Second, they were totally unprepared for the snow storm that hit them.  The mountains make their own weather folks and it can close in very quickly.  Cotton jeans, cotton canvas shoes, cotton socks, cotton T-shirts and sweatshirts will not do the job in that kind of weather.  Say it with now people, “cotton kills” in the mountains.  It provides no thermal insulation when wet and it dries very slowly, if at all.  Your body looses heat 25 times faster when it is wet than when it is dry.  When the ambient outside temperature is lower than yours, you are going to get cold.  The resulting drop in core body temperature is known as Hypothermia and it is the leading backcountry killer.  Fourth, they had no effective means of starting a fire to keep them warm and signal searchers.  Fifth, they had no effective means of communications to call for help.

I know, I know, they were just headed out to cut a Christmas tree.  Well, it almost killed them and it put a lot of other people in harms way.  You have to be prepared people or you will prove Darwin’s theory and the operation moves from rescue to recovery.  The human body is a very fragile system.  It requires fuel and water, has to eliminate waste, and has difficulty operating when its temperature varies more than a few degrees from normal.  It demands maintenance and protection or it will shut down and die.

Please be careful out there.  Remember to be prepared because it will keep you and your loved ones safe.  Also remember that when you make a mistake in the backcountry or something bad happens to you in the wilderness, there are good people who are busting a gut to bring you back alive.  Don't put their lifes at risk needlessly.

Hardcore Outdoor is dedicated to those who won't or can't turn back.