Our KNX Heroes of the Week, Schuyler Senft-Grupp and David Weidner, are mountain rescue volunteers - who save lives while risking their own!
Schuyler Senft-Grupp (L) and David Weidner (R)ourtesy of David Weidner
Schuyler and David are part of a group of incredible, skilled, and courageous volunteers who hike over rugged terrain to save people who have been trapped or injured while hiking the Southern California mountains.
Mission Hauling LitterDavid Weidner
The men are mainly assigned to the Mount Baldy area, and they stay on call, ready to jump into action if a need arises.
TrainingMark Carillo
Listen to Heather’s full interview with Schuyler and David here:
“We get notified by a specific pp, and for me, I've made a very specific noise. My wife and my son both know, as soon as it makes that kind of siren noise, they're like, ‘oh, you got search and rescue, right?’” Schuyler told Heroes host Heather Jordan. “So, kind of immediately then, it's the logistics of, you know, if I'm watching my son, it's figuring out who's gonna take over watching him, and then it's grab some snacks and start getting some energy because we've probably got some pretty significant hiking going, and then all of my gear is packed up and ready to go in three different go-bags. My personal goal is to be out of the house within 10 minutes after I've received that app notification.”
Schuyler training buildingEric Vetere
There are so many things they have to train for. It can be extremely cold during a rescue, it can be hours of hiking, and if conditions are really bad, they may have to stay the night on the mountain and wait till morning light to traverse back down.
David said a recent rescue of two hikers meant crossing icy terrain so they could reach an air rescue chopper.
David WeidnerDavid Weidner
“We had to build anchors and belay each other across icy slopes and stuff, so when we did get to point B and they were able to hoist the subjects out, then we had to retrace our steps, rebuild all the anchors, belay ourselves across these sections again,” he said. “So, you know, we were more than happy to help get these subjects off the mountain.”
David WeidnerDavid Weidner
David added that each rescue is a team effort with other volunteers as well.
“Even though Skyler and I were on the mountain that night, we had a whole command post that was in communication with us the entire night and giving us updates and letting us know conditions,” he said.
Check out our other KNX Heroes here.
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