Hiker strips off bra to get mountain rescue

[dentonfabrics]

I heard this on NPR's "Only a Game" this morning. I thought I'd keep you guys abreast of this story....


Hiker strips off bra to get mountain rescue
Jun 21 2008

AN American hiker given up for dead by mountain rescuers was saved when she stripped off her bra to get attention.

Jessica Brown, 24, had fallen off a ledge in the Austrian Alps and was stranded injured for 70 hours in freezing temperatures.

But she spotted a cable car on its way up the mountain in Salzburg and quickly flung her bra into a container carrying food as it passed her.

Workers higher up the peak realised it must have been thrown in as a message and sent out a search party.

A rescuer said: "It certainly beats sending up a flare."

 

[gooly]

only a **** would do such a thing!

 

[bigmoose]

Was that Nippletop Mt.?

 

[Viewseeker]

I'm sure they did there breast to rescue and get her safe.

 

[gooly]

think she'll have any mammary of her rescue?

 

[Maddy]

That is amazing.
She is one very lucky woman.

 

[dentonfabrics]

That is amazing.
She is one very lucky woman.

All jokes aside, it really IS amazing. Throwing a piece of clothing onto a cable car is incredibly smart, and you have to say the same for the workers who "decoded" the message.

I wonder how much they charged her for the rescue efforts?

 

[Gris]

Ttiuwp

(This Thread Is Useless Without Pics) :d

 

[DougPaul]

All jokes aside, it really IS amazing. Throwing a piece of clothing onto a cable car is incredibly smart, and you have to say the same for the workers who "decoded" the message.

The other amazing part is that it was interpreted as a call for help. I'll bet that many (most?) would have interpreted it as a joke from the workers at the bottom.

Maybe the lesson is that one should add a laundry marking pen to one's emergency gear--so that one can write a message on any clothing that one throws somewhere to attract attention... (need a confused icon here)

Doug

 

[Gris]

We live in a sexist world, dont we?

If a hiker dude had taken off his pants, he never woulda been rescued!

 

[carole]

Bra - vo to her!

 

[MichaelJ]

I'll bet that many (most?) would have interpreted it as a joke from the workers at the bottom.

That was my first thought (okay, second) but recall that she had been reported missing in the area on Monday. What I read is that she'd hooked the bra to a timber transport cable, and the moment the worker saw it on there he realized it must be from the missing hiker and notified authorities.

So in fact, having found the timber transport line (and apparently gotten water by breaking into a supply box on it), she did something very, very smart.

 

[HikerAmiga]

Wow! Now I have another practical reason to carry extra undergarments in my pack. She was indeed smart and lucky!

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Bra

If she'd have thrown it at the Cog she would have been fined. Thank God she needed rescue in a country where bare breasts aren't considered "vulgar."

KDT

 

[DougPaul]

That was my first thought (okay, second) but recall that she had been reported missing in the area on Monday. What I read is that she'd hooked the bra to a timber transport cable, and the moment the worker saw it on there he realized it must be from the missing hiker and notified authorities.

So in fact, having found the timber transport line (and apparently gotten water by breaking into a supply box on it), she did something very, very smart.

I haven't seen any details other than those in the first post. (Anyone have a link to more info? I looked earlier, but didn't find anything--maybe I needed to wait a little longer for the search engines to catch it.)

While the timber workers might have known that she had been reported missing, it is unlikely that she knew for certain.

It also occurred to me that if the people at the top checked with the people at the bottom, they could have determined that it was not a joke. In any case, it was a clever thing to do and I'm glad that it worked.

Doug

 

[pedxing]

More details here:

http://www.backpacker.com/blogs/257

a link from backpacker has a few more details:

http://www.thelocal.de/12617/20080620/

 

[ColdRiverRun]

I think she qualifies as a honorary mean girl, no?

My first thought was that for sure there was contact from the top to the bottom before they realized, but certainly they knew there was a missing "woman" out there and were on the lookout for anything.

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

I was considering the purchase of a new SPOT Satellite Messenger, but a sports bra would be much cheaper!

 

[John Christiana]

bra into container

Well, I would have rescued her too, I guess depending on the size of the bra. I wonder if she took it off without taking off her shirt.

Another point i bring up at the REI talks I give is having outer (goretex or other) pants with zippers. It is worth the extra $100 it costs to have side zippers. That can save your energy and prevent you from getting mountain sickness.

The example I use is, if you are in your upstairs bedroom on a very hot day with the windows closed. You will overheat for sure. but try opening one or two windows with a cross draft and you cool off - same as a car.

Now when you are climbing on Deanli, Antarctica, or anywhere on a rope team (or when you don't have time to take off your boots and pants) and the weather can change sooooooo fast, just think how you will save your energy when you can just zip down both sides of your pants. That extra $100 can save your trip and maybe save lives.

I bring this up here on this thread, because if she had these zipper pants, she could have then taken off her panties fast and thrown them in the container just the same.

John Christiana

 

[Paradox]

Dang! I spotted this thread so late, everyone had already milked it for all the good puns.