Over the years Zion Helitack has been called in for a variety of reasons. Sometimes to support in finding a body (i.e. some of the falls from the top of Angels Landing), or to support inserting SAR team members. We have delivered needed survival equipment to those in need, when we know the SAR team is going to have an extended amount of time trying to rescue individuals.
One of my favorite SAR's that we supported was in 2005. The Telephone Canyon SAR was a combined effort of Zion Helitack and the SAR Team to reach and rescue a young gentleman that had fallen during the second rappel into Telephone Canyon (due to inappropriate training and gear). The Helitack crew played a vital role in not only getting the SAR members to location, but also in helping with the technical rope rescue that took nearly 5 hours to complete start to finish. The pack out to the helicopter was not a long one, but took the efforts of all present to accomplish. My hat is off to the SAR members that train hard to be some of the finest technical rescue engineers in the country. It is truely mind boggling to see what these men & women do with a set of ropes in a very tight situation.I remember very vividly the rescue that Zion Helitack made happen in 2006... one that I myself would probably never do again. The report came in that a woman was trapped along the Narrows Canyon trail. This is a rather long trail, nearly 16 miles start to finish, that winds through a canyon that is often tight and hikers spend most of their time in the water.... This lady had no business doing the hike. When we came to find her, she was wearing innappropriate apparel and frankly wasn't in the type of shape that was conducive to the task. It was thought that perhaps she was having heart problems, this made getting her out very critical. We flew the helicopter to the bottom of the narrows and landed on a rocky shore along the river. The decent was over 1,000 feet into a canyon that was less than a football field wide. I was nervous the entire way down... It was perhaps a rash decision to fly into the canyon putting even more people at risk. In the end we pulled the lady out of the canyon and flew her to the ambulance waiting at Watchman helispot... her end diagnosis... some heartbearn/stomach problems that manifest much like a heart attack....
One of the most dramatic rescues involved the Rescue Team from Nellis Air Force Base, Rescue 61. It is a Pavehawk (the air force version of the blackhawk). Rescue 61 was doing routine training when we contacted Nellis to see if they would be available to do an Infrared Flight for us. The missing gentleman was nearly 48 hours overdue and we had exhausted a lot of man hours and helicopter time trying to search for him. He was believed to be missing near the Subway, and being an elderly man made it much more imperitive to find him quickly.
Rescue 61 arrive with a full compliment, including a senior officer that was on the training mission to observe their skills. Boy was he in for a treat, what better training than an actual mission. Along with the senior officer, two pilots, a crew chief... were the 4 members of the Para-Rescue Squad... these guys are incredible... When they stepped off the helicopter it was like a scene from the movies. They had more gear and gadgets attached to their bodies than I thought would be comfortable to carry. After doing a complete fuel cycle looking for the lost party during the day, Rescue 61 left for St. George to refuel and grab a quick bite to eat while they waited for dark (conditions needed for a FLIR flight). Most of the SAR team had called it a night when I overheard Rescue 61 arive on scene again. I had packed up and was ten minutes out of the helibase when the communication came over the radio... "Zion Dispatch, Rescue 61" "Rescue 61 this is Zion Dispatch go ahead". "Zion Rescue 61 has arrived over the scene and we are picking up a light with our night vision, do you have any rescuers out at this time?" "Rescue 61 that is a negative, all rescue personnel are in for the night" there was a brief pause then this transmission broke the silence... a very thick silence as everyone listened on the edge of their seats. "Zion Dispatch, Rescue 61 has located the missing party. 
Permission to extract subject off the hill". I immediately spun the truck around and headed back to the Helibase to set up for recieving the injured party. Rescue 61 performed a hoist extraction by sending one of the Para-Rescue squad members down on the hoist. He fastened a harness to the gentleman and together they were hoisted into the helicopter. This is amazing in that the pilots were working with Night Vision Goggles (NVG) in a canyon terrain... heroic! The gentleman had been missing for over 48 hours. He was dehydrated, had a dislocated shoulder, and had survived by drinking his own urine... and knowing that helicopters were in the area and looking for him... It was an amazing rescue that I will never forget.So yes... Zion Helitack does get involved in a rescue or two here and there... although it is not a primary function of the crew, it is one that we train and look forward to performing...
Until the next exciting rescue... Cheers,
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