Montrose Search & Rescue Team Climbs Yosemite's Ice Waterfalls

Montrose Search and Rescue Team encounters ice and snow forms in many areas of Angeles National Forest, including dangerous ice chutes off Angeles Crest Highway and at public ski area Snow Crest or private Buckhorn Ski Club, Deputy Reserve Chief Mike Leum told Patch. 

A group of Montrose Search and Rescue team members, along with two LA Sheriff Air Rescue 5 medics, climbed frozen waterfalls in Lee Vining Canyon, just east of Yosemite on Feb. 11 for the annual "V.I.R.T.," Vertical Ice Response Team. 

"This type of climbing is highly technical, and dangerous," Leum said. "Specialized tools are required which include: Crampons, Ice axes, and ice screws. We had two guides from the American Alpine Institute join us, and they were able to show us the most current climbing techniques."

In the past, rescuers have experience injuries in ice or snow situations. 

"One year an Air 5 medic suffered a fractured arm, and last year one of the guides suffered a broken hand while he was belaying me - holding the other end of my rope while I climbed an ice column which shattered," Leum said.

Learning how to handle ice and snow is a good strategy when you're rescuing people in Angeles National Forest, Leum said. 

"These skills came in handy a couple years ago when we rescued a stranded female climber whose boyfriend had fallen to his death, and she was clinging to a tree at the top of an ice chute," Leum said. 

Leum started the unit several years ago when he realized the group could safely access the areas that were often too dangerous to search in the past, he said. 

"Also, I figure that any team member who is comfortable climbing a frozen waterfall will be comfortable under almost any climbing scenario," Leum said.