>>272420His buddy (the one that didn't go down teh hill, the one that flagged us down) could have gone or called for help. There was marginal cellular coverage in the area (which surprised me), that's how we knew the guy in the canyon was OK and hiking up.
>What if there was no phone coverage, with no way to know what the canyon rider was doing?>Or his condition?The guy who's cabin we stay at (and a few of his guides) is on the local SAR crew. If it came down to a dispatch for these guys, chances are pretty high our crew would have been wrangled into going out again too, since we're among the most capable and equipped riders that stay with him.
Looked over my GPS tracks the night we rescued the two, figured out about where the stuck sled was, then talked to the cabin owner about avy conditions and routes into and out of the canyon. Made a plan, dumped data into the GPS's and successfully rescued the cat.
>Pic related .... fuck, that's one hell of a hike (white line from "stuck sled" to "fire loc'n").I bet it was an interesting drive home (about 16 hours for them) the next day.
