Mammoth Mountain Health and Safety Director, Bill Anderson, and Mono County Search and Rescue member, Jeff Holmquist recently placed ten new directional signs at the bottom of the backside of Mammoth Mountain. The signs are designed to help rescuers find the lost and disoriented snow enthusiasts
Here is the wording on one of ten new, potentially life-saving signs placed at the bottom of the backside of Mammoth Mountain, at the Mammoth Crest, and at the bottom of the Fresno Bowl. The signs, a collaborative effort by the Mono County Search and Rescue (SAR), Mammoth Mountain and the US Forest Service, were placed along the San Joaquin Road last week, in an attempt to steer lost or disoriented skiers, snowboarders or other snow enthusiasts to safety.
The signs were designed by SAR. Mammoth Mountain took the wording, said Pam Rake, of Mammoth Mountain Health and Safety, and built the signs (at a cost of about $70 each). Bill Anderson, head of Mammoth Mountain Health and Safety helped to engineer the signs' design, and worked with SAR members to create the durable fiberglass safety symbols. Each sign has a different set of instructions on it, based on its location, but the intent is the same: pointing the way to safety, and home.
Mono County Search and Rescue, in a collaborative effort with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, and the US Forest Service, placed ten new, potentially life-saving, signs along the bottom of the backside of Mammoth Mountain. These signs point the way to safety, and offer some comforting advice for individuals who are lost or disoriented
"The idea is, if we get someone down there, they can find us," said Jeff Holmquist, SAR president. "The signs aren't an assurance that you won't get lost," Holmquist said, "but in light of the two 'cold trail' cases of lost individuals this year, the signs can only help in the future."
Holmquist said the sign placement was based on years of rescuing people who head off the backside of Mammoth Mountain, and get lost, or end up being found dead. Holmquist stated, "about 80% of the missing that leave Hemlock, Turkey, Fresno, hit the road at the bottom of Mammoth Mountain. The signs can help."
