From the Inyo Sheriff Facebook page:
"Inyo County Sheriff's Search & Rescue is testing a PSAR program on the Whitney Trail. PSAR includes active interaction with trail hikers (boots on the ground), passive informational (trailhead signage), cooperative support (local businesses catering to the hiking public: motels and retail outlets) and social media (this posting).
The PSAR program includes: emergency contact information and medical issues, trail conditions, weather conditions and team issues.
The most recent "boots on the ground" activity was Sept 9-10 from the Whitney Portal to Outpost Camp. A total of 19 groups were contacted with 61 hiking members. If you were part of the hikers contacted, we would appreciate your comments. Please send to: Inyo SAR, PO Box 982, Bishop, Ca. 93515.
The topics with the most discussion:
1 - reliance on "good weather" reports with bad weather the night before and on the current horizon.
2 - camp at Outpost Camp and start the longer summit bid from there or risk possible bad weather conditions overnight at Trail Camp and start the shorter summit bid from there.
3- not starting the summit bid early enough to get off the summit and Trail Crest before bad weather moves in.
Large groups with different physical capabilities and overnight equipment complicated this decision process.
Inyo County Search & Rescue: We are a dedicated group of volunteers called upon to provide search and rescue services to all reaches of Inyo County, CA. As an independent non-profit 501c3 organization, we partner with the Inyo County Sheriff's Office to better provide services.
Visit our web site for more information. Donations for training and equipment are appreciated."
What is a PSAR program? Answer from Yosemite:
https://www.yosemiteconservancy.org/blog/nine-things-psar
