Graduation/Rescue August 1st, 2011

Two members of Altadena Mountain Rescue who have been in Sheriff's Reserve Academy had their Pinning and Graduation Ceremony on Monday. We're proud to have our teammates back after 6 months of hard work. Congratulations! Unfortunately, for a few of us, just as we arrived in Down Town L.A. for Graduation we needed to turn right back around to respond on a call for a hiker stuck on a cliff in Eaton Canyon. Two AMRT members were already on scene by the time we arrived for support. Sierra Madre Search and Rescue were also kind enough to lend us a hand. Our hiker had found himself stuck on the side of a cliff on the South side of Acrophobia ridge, about an 1/8 of a mile down canyon from the start up point. Our plan of action was to get above him, setup a rope system to lower a rescuer to his location and attach a harness, and finally lower both rescuer and hiker to canyon bottom. This is exactly what we did and it worked out very well! He was lowered to canyon bottom with no injuries and was then escorted out. We cleaned up on top and hiked back down and out.
Another note; this is the second rescue we've had in the same exact spot within two weeks. GOING UP THIS RIDGE IS NOT ADVISED! THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL TRAIL, NOR IS IT MAINTAINED. ACCIDENTS HERE CAN BE UNFORGIVING. As you can see in the last post and recent news reports, a hiker lost his life after taking a tumble off of this same ridge.
Feel free to post any comments or questions about this. Be safe out there!