I'm bad at updating anyway, but the fact that I don't have 3G cell service yet alone frequent internet access on a real computer makes it even more difficult. My "newer" laptop has a broken screen, so I have to attach an external screen - making it big and bulky, so I keep it at Tim's and get online here every other weekend or so. I have an old laptop, but the closest place with free wi-fi is 45 minutes away in Sonora... plus, the battery doesn't work and it MUST be plugged in to function, so getting stonewalled at Starbucks with power outlets is a real bummer. I now have access to a Forest Service computer, but it is shared by a lot of folks and I can't access a lot of websites. So, I sometimes feel like I'm living under a rock. :)
My first month of working on the Yosemite helitack crew has been great! Lots of training, and lots of... snow. Our helibase is at about 6700 feet elevation, which is cold and windy enough to make for some surprise weather - like a foot and half of snow in mid-May. In fact, we were supposed to get snow this weekend - guess I will find out tomorrow!
What exactly do we do? Well, the first month has been filled with training and recertifications of all kinds - for us, the pilots, the rangers, everybody involved in fire or aviation. The most unfortunate and disappointing part is that the NPS allows their people to short haul and probably start up rappelling again (The Forest Service stopped all rappel and short haul after a fatal accident in 2009). However, us four Forest Service apprentices are not allowed to even do short haul, per our forest FMOs direction. :( So for a few days, us FS folks helped take photos and document the evaluation and training process of the rest of the crew (and the rangers) got to try out new belay devices, ropes and harnesses as they practiced rappelling off the tower. That was pretty painful to have to watch while everybody else had all the fun! But we still learned a lot and maybe one day, I will be on the right crew, with the right agency, at the right time...We have two pilots that rotate days off - 12 days on, 12 days off. We also have a fuel truck driver and two mechanics, in addition to our helitack crew. The pilots needed to be recertified in the different kinds of missions that they fly in the park - short haul and rappel, specifically. First, the pilots must fly a few tests with a 150' rope and a heavy weight on the end, hovering and holding the weight for a certain amount of time within a box or circles painted on the helibase. It's apparently very tough. Once they pass those tests, they can do live tests - which means with actual people attached to the short haul rope, or an actual person rappelling out of the helicopter. FYI, "short haul" is when a fixed rope is attached from the bottom of the helicopter, and a person or two and/or a litter (the backboard thing that injured people lay on) are attached to the bottom. Both pilots passed the tests and we are good to go!
From there, our crew needs to know how to load the helicopter for different missions, most commonly: Search and Rescue, or Fire. Depending on the mission, we bring different items along... the short haul bags, the litter and wheel, the body splint, medical bag, the bucket, etc. We are on 7 day staffing, so our 12 person crew alternates days off and I think we typically have like 6 people working per day. So here's a typical day:
In the meantime, the pilot and manager work out the load calculations, which is how much the helicopter can lift given the elevation and temperature. Somebody then works up the manifest, which is a list of all the passengers and gear on the helicopter. We then do the typical morning briefing, going over the local weather in the park as well as down in the lower, hotter elevations. From there, we will either practice drills loading and unloading the helicopter, setting up the bucket or short haul gear, and at some point do our PT - which alternates between cardio (running or hiking up a steep nasty hill) or the dreaded deck of cards - each suite is a different ab or arm workout... at this point, it's pretty brutal with a string of push ups or a string of ab exercises!!
Sure, there can be a bit of down time, but we have to be immediately available to fly so we can't venture too far. Always miscellaneous stuff to do around the base...
We have gotten a few false alarms, almost getting called up for a fire down in the low elevations... we hurry up and gear up and get in the helicopter... and then dispatch cancels everybody before we are even ordered. However, we have already gotten to help with two SARs. One mission was actually reconnaissance for a rock slide on Half Dome, to make sure nobody was injured. I didn't get to fly that one; they only took a couple folks and picked up the geologist and some other people to check it out. My first helicopter flight was just last week, on a SAR for a climber injured on a climb called "Snake Dike" on Half Dome. He fell 100 feet but got away pretty lucky with just a broken ankle. It was too far and too nasty of a hike for a foot rescue, so they called up the helicopter... We loaded up the short haul and SAR gear, and 5 of us flew down to Awahnee Valley to unload gear and set up a ranger to do the short haul rescue. First, we did a recon flight around Half Dome - AMAZING!! The waterfalls are raging right now, and we flew right at the top of the rim of the canyon... then we flew up real close to Half Dome, hovering and opening the doors to find the injured climber... it was an incredible view!! Anyway, for the actual rescue, only 2 people were in the helicopter while the ranger did the short haul, they attached the climber to the short haul as well, so we were waiting in the valley to catch the patient when they came in. It took less than 2 hours and had a happy ending. :) And I got my first helicopter ride!!
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