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Lost La Pine ATVer Rescued in Fortunate Encounter Twin Lakes Resort

Lost La Pine ATVer Rescued in Fortunate Encounter Twin Lakes Resort Worker:
'He Wouldn't Have Made It Another Night'
By the NewsChannel 21 Team
April 5, 2011
A La Pine man who left his home for an ATV ride crashed into a tree that fell across a forest road and despite serious injures apparently walked about 12 miles as searchers hunted for him. He was
found Tuesday afternoon in the Twin Lakes area west of town, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Twin Lakes Resort employee Joie Frazee, among staff preparing the resort for the spring opening, happened to find Clayton Roy Lichtenhahn, 41, walking in the area around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday and contacted
deputies and detectives, who went to the scene to confirm it was the man they had been looking for, said sheriff’s Capt. Marc Mills.

"I let him use the (cell) phone for a while, and then came to the conclusion that this was a little bit more serious than I thought," Frazee said Tuesday evening.

After Frazee called dispatch to confirm to see if police were looking for somebody, he took action. Grabbing his snowmobile, he drove Lichtenhahn to the intersection of Forest Road 42 and 4260.

"Once we got him out to the road, trying to get him warmed up, get some fluids in him, I got the boot off. He had a broken ankle, possibly a couple broken ribs," Frazee said.

According to Frazee, all Lichtenhahn said at the beginning was that he wrecked his four-wheeler and that he had lost his pants swimming in Wickiup Reservoir.

"He didn't know why he went swimming, which is also a direct cause of hypothermia," Frazee said. "You feel like you are overheating and it does cause quite a few people suffering from hypothermia to take off their
clothes."

The ambulance came shortly after and took Lichtenhahn to St. Charles Medical Center-Bend, where he was upgraded from serious to fair condition Tuesday night.

Deschutes County sheriff's deputies, joined by detectives and Sheriff's Search and Rescue, had been searching all day for Lichtenhahn.

Detectives were not surprised that he had wandered a long ways.

"Maybe it was because he was just out on his four-wheeler, and you turn one direction and the next thing you know is you don't know which way you're going," said sheriff's Detective Tim Hernandez. "Panic kind of sets in, and next thing you know you are working a lot harder to try to find where you are at and where you are going."

But Frazee says he's used to this kind of thing happening, and that when people head out in the woods, they get themselves in predicaments quite often.

Lichtenhahn is quite fortunate to have run into Frazee.

"Just good circumstances for the fact that he probably wouldn't have made it another night, definitely suffering from hypothermia," Frazee said.

Around the same time Lichtenhahn was found near the resort, a Leading Edge helicopter called into the search found Lichtenhahn’s 20011 Polaris 4-by-4 ATV where it had crashed into the end of a tree that had
fallen across Forest Service Road 4220/500, Mills said. The crash had left it inoperable, with the left front wheel torn off, searchers said.

The crashed ATV was found only about four miles from the man’s home – but then he apparently walked about 12 miles to the west, in the other direction.

"We believe he was a bit disoriented," Mills said.

As it turned out, that apparently was the second of two crashes that left the ATV unable to continue on, the first having happened in a snowy area, Mills said.

"We're just glad we found this guy," Mills said.

Deputies responded around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday to a home in the 17000 block of Kasserman Drive on a missing person report, said Sgt. Chad Davis.

Sandy Lichtenhahn told deputies her husband left their home around 4:30 p.m. Monday on his forest green 2011 550cc Polaris Sportsman four-wheeled ATV.

She said Clayton did not state his intended destination and did not take his cellphone, wallet or house keys with him.

Lichtenhahn left home wearing a black and white full-face helmet and goggles, camouflage pants, a black and white buttoned-down shirt, a blue and white windbreaker and black boots, Davis said.

Sheriff’s Search and Rescue crews were dispatched early Tuesday morning to begin a ground search for Lichtenhahn and his ATV.

Late Tuesday morning, Davis said deputies and SAR personnel already had searched numerous areas in the south county and not found either the missing man or his ATV..

About 20 SAR members took part in the search, joined by detectives and the helicopter from Leading Edge Helicopter Service, Mills said.
Copyright 2011 KTVZ. All rights reserved.

http://www.ktvz.com/news/27440317/detail.html

 

Rescue in the Woods Offers Lessons To All
Wilderness Expert Says Cell Phone, Extra Layers Key
By Alicia Inns, KTVZ.COM
April 6, 2011
Police say 41-year old Clayton Lichtenhahn is lucky to be alive. After crashing his ATV becoming disoriented, the La Pine man was forced to spend a cold night in the woods.

Joie Frazee, one of the owners of Twin Lakes Resort, found Lichtenhahn wandering in the snow, wearing only his underwear, a windbreaker, riding gloves and black boots that had cut into the skin on his shins from
walking 12 miles from where he crashed into a fallen tree.

An outfit too bare for frigid temperatures.

"Considering the temperatures Monday night and the way he was dressed, he wasn't prepared to be outside for a long period of time," said Deschutes County sheriff's Det. Tim Hernandez.

Bob Speik is a wilderness expert in Central Oregon who runs a Website, www.traditionalmountaineering.org. He said Wednesday the most efficient way to take the "search" out of search and rescue is to always carry a cellphone -- a tool police say Lichtenhahn left at home.

"Aside from telling someone where you are going, bringing a cellphone is the most crucial thing," Speik said Wednesday. "Now you can call 911 on a cellphone and by federal mandate, they can locate you by
triangulation from cell towers."

If you do get stranded, hurt or lost, Speik says to stay in one place, tell someone where you are headed before leaving and always carry extra clothing.

He suggests buying maps, a compass and/or a GPS receiver and packing them with the rest of your belongings.

Speik says Lichtenhahn's situation was unexpected but it can teach us all a lesson; Leave Prepared.

"Mr. Lichtenhahn should have stayed with his ATV, because it's easier to see that, but it's hard to see a person," Speik said. "Without a map or compass, he walked 12 miles in the wrong
direction. He was cold, wet and without the proper clothing, and he was lucky to be found by that man."

Lichtenhahn was upgraded to fair condition at St. Charles Tuesday night.

For a full list of the essential outdoor systems visit www.traditionalmountaineering.org.

http://www.ktvz.com/news/27459098/detail.html

Comments on the KTVZ website
Hello "bombchaser"-
Thanks for your positive comments!

I think part of the problem is that many people don't really "plan" to become stranded.

Perhaps that is a big part of the problem for SAR, the families of the stranded and the unhappy folks who get much more of an adventure than they really wanted. Each year in Oregon, people become stranded overnight and some die each year from hypothermia

KTVZ has done the best job in Central Oregon, of publishing news reports that identify the factors that can "mitigate" the risks of backcountry travel:
1. Tell a "Responsible Person" where you plan to go and agree with the RP on the best time for a timely call to 911;
2. Dress for the forecast weather and carry a day pack with enough extra clothing, food and water for an emergency stop or stranding overnight;
3. Carry a $7 topo map of the area, a $25 declination adjusted compass and a current $100 GPS and some new skills;
4. Carry a common digital cell phone from a (CDMA technology) Provider and for hunting, a $149. SPOT-2 GPS satellite communicator that can call home, friends or 911 (without cell phone towers).

Check my not for profit web site for more detail: www.TraditionalMountaineering.org
--Robert Speik

http://www.ktvz.com/news/27459098/detail.html

1. Practice the Four Basic Responsibilities of the Backcountry Traveler. They work!  Basic Responsibilities

2. Carry the new Ten Essential Systems, sized for the forecast weather and the adventure in a light day pack. This includes a map, compass and GPS and the skills to use them. In the winter, this includes enough extra insulation and waterproof clothing to keep you dry and warm if you become stranded. In snow, you must have a shovel and insulating pad and the skills to make a shelter in the snow to avoid hypothermia and frost bite damage. It works!  Essential Systems

A suggested minimum standard news advisory for all backcountry travelers!

"We would like to take this opportunity to ask our visitors to the backcountry of Oregon to Plan for the unexpected. Each person should dress for the forecast weather and take minimum extra clothing to provide protection from a drop in temperature and possible rain or snow storm or an unexpected cold wet night out. Each person should carry high carbohydrate snacks, two quarts of water or Gatorade, a topo map and declination adjusted base plate compass and an optional inexpensive GPS (and the skills to use them together). Each person who has a cell phone should carry their ordinary charged cell phone (from a service provider that has the best local backcountry coverage). An inexpensive SPOT-2 GPS Satellite Communicator is a good additional option for some. Each person should carry their selected items from the new 'Ten Essentials Systems' in a day pack sized for the individual, the trip, the season and the forecast weather."

"Visitors are reminded to tell a Responsible Person where they are going, where they plan to park, when they will be back and to make sure that person understands that they are relied upon to call 911 at a certain time if the backcountry traveler has not returned. Call 911 as soon as you become lost or stranded. You will not be charged. Do not try to find your way until you are benighted, exhausted, or worse yet - wet. Your ordinary cell phone call to 911 can take the 'Search' out of Search and Rescue."

THE MISSION of TraditionalMountaineering.org

"To provide information and instruction about world-wide basic to advanced alpine mountain climbing safety skills and gear, on and off trail hiking, scrambling and light and fast Leave No Trace backpacking techniques based on the foundation of an appreciation for the Stewardship of the Land, all illustrated through photographs and accounts of actual shared mountaineering adventures."

TraditionalMountaineering is founded on the premise that "He who knows naught, knows not that he knows naught", that exploring the hills and summitting peaks have dangers that are hidden to the un-informed and that these inherent risks can be in part, identified and mitigated by mentoring: information, training, wonderful gear, and knowledge gained through the experiences of others.

The value of TraditionalMountaineering to our Friends and Subscribers is the selectivity of the information we provide, and its relevance to introducing folks to informed hiking on the trail, exploring off the trail, mountain travel and Leave-no-Trace light-weight bivy and backpacking, technical travel over steep snow, rock and ice, technical glacier travel and a little technical rock climbing on the way to the summit. Whatever your capabilities and interests, there is a place for everyone in traditional alpine mountaineering.

    WARNING - *DISCLAIMER!*
Mountain climbing has inherent dangers that can, only in part, be mitigated