Glen Canyon NRA/Grand Canyon NP
Staff from Two Parks Join in Major Rescue Effort
On March 23rd, personnel from Glen Canyon NRA and Grand Canyon NP
provided assistance to the Coconino County Sheriff's Department in
the rescue of a 41-year-old man from Water Holes Canyon, which is
located seven miles south of Page. Water Holes Canyon is a deeply
sculpted slot canyon which normally requires significant
canyoneering skills to descend.
William Elmore had been located the day before by two hikers who
were traveling along the canyon rim and heard yells for help.
Coconino County SAR and Sacred Mountain EMS responded that night,
reaching the victim at midnight. With a storm system approaching,
NPS personnel worked with Coconino County SAR to relieve the initial
responders and immediately begin rigging for a possible rope-based
raising operation that would require a 400-foot guiding line to the
canyon rim. Meanwhile, NPS Helicopter 368 was dispatched from Grand
Canyon to conduct a short-haul extraction. A snowstorm on the South
Rim abated enough to permit a response.
Elmore was extracted via helicopter short-haul by late morning and
transferred to Classic Lifeguard air ambulance, which was staged at
the scene. Elmore was suffering from multiple lower extremity
fractures, a pelvic fracture, severe dehydration and advanced stages
of hypothermia. During an interview, Elmore told rangers that he had
been stranded in the canyon for sixteen days, but the staff at
Flagstaff Medical Center, who evaluated Elmore, felt that he had
more likely been in the canyon for four to eight days.
Elmore said that he'd gotten into an argument with his ex-wife in
Ohio a month-and-a-half earlier and had been hitchhiking cross
country since then. He said that he'd been attacked and robbed of
his backpack near Kayenta in early March, so decided not to walk
along the highway in order to avoid getting attacked again. He
became disoriented at nightfall and apparently descended down a
route into Water Holes Canyon. In the darkness, he suffered multiple
falls, finally landing at the bottom of a narrow slot canyon. He was
unable to climb out of the canyon due to his injuries and weakened
state. Six rescuers from Glen Canyon NRA and four from Grand Canyon
NP assisted with the joint agency operation. [Submitted by Ken
Phillips, Chief, Emergency Services, Grand Canyon NP]
