Private Search Party for missing bushwalker Mt Koscuiskzo

[Strider]

Latest is that the Canadian soldiers believe they have narrowed the search area to under 2 square kilometres: http://www.thespec.com/news-story/38734 ... ing-hiker/

This article is just bizarre. Completely out of touch with reality.

Time is running out in the search for Prabhdeep Srawn.

In one more week, it will be full blown winter

[FatCanyoner]

Another interesting read is the following from a couple volunteers from the Australian Swiss Search Dog Association. Due to the conditions they experienced this guy was fearful his SAR dog would freeze to death. It finally captures the challenges of the area, including the scrub, rather than the view his family were promoting about the search area.

We have finally arrived back in Jindabyne after the most amazing experience in the Snowy Mountains ever.

After our three days with the Canadians walking to and back from Mt Townsend – you all saw those photos! We needed a day to recover and sort out our gear even though Peter, Jochen, the Canadian team leader Scott and I were to be airlifted into the Lake Albina area to check out a smell. Scott and Andreas, the other Canadian team leader agreed with me that it was too risky after the three days we had all spent and that this should be deferred as it did not appear to have the highest priority.

The plan was to airlift us all (16 persons which included Jochen) to a campsite on the west side of Mt Townsend that Scott and Andreas had reconned by air on Thursday. The dog team, which included Scott who was from now on our team leader, were to be the first to be airlifted out by helicopter from the Jindabyne airport. And now the fun started. Jochen was the first on the chopper with the pilot very happy with his behaviour. BUT……we had to get permission to fly Jochen from CASA as this was a private helicopter. The CASA rules only covered assistance dogs such as guide dogs. We needed proof of his qualifications!

The emails and phone calls went backwards and forwards all day as we watched load after load of searchers being flown into the campsite area. I kept Jochen happy with obedience and search games throughout the day. We watched the last two people flown out and we still did not know whether Jochen would get permission to fly. I burst into tears.

Apparently it took two people almost all day working on this problem with no resolution Friday evening. We contacted South Australia and put the pilot and the SAUSAR commander into contact. FINALLY, Saturday early morning we had the ok that Jochen could fly and Peter drove Scott, Jochen, our back packs (heavy as ever) to Jindabyne where Peter dropped us off whilst he continued to Perisher from where the rest of the crew were to be flown out.

The frustration with the CASA problem was that the park rangers and police had already given permission for Jochen to enter the park after speaking to Peter at length and convincing themselves that Jochen is qualified, but this did not satisfy CASA. We have set a precedence and a policy change has been made.

By midday Saturday everyone had arrived and camp was established. The plan was to negotiate a path to Prabh’s last mobile phone triangulation and develop a search strategy from there. The ‘boys’ were to go ahead to beat a path and the dog team was to follow. This however proved not to be a good plan as very quickly it became clear that we had to be in front. We knew that of course but had to allow things to unfold.

We found ourselves in the worst scrub that could ever have been devised by anybody in their worst nightmare. I will go into much greater detail later in a blog about this deployment. We averaged 200meters per hour and finally arrived on the mobile phone ping spot and surveyed the landscape. The dog team headed for a group of snow gums higher up and the last trees at this height. As we got there, Jochen sniffed high up into the snow gums and did the most beautiful alert I could wish for. At first we were not sure whether he had alerted a couple of guys to our left that were fairly close. Given the wind direction coming up the mountain side, there was just a possibility that their scent had banked up in the tree tops. We had a discussion with Scott and agreed that we move on to the next group of gums. Here, Jochen again scented high up into the trees, even trying to get up into them, and then alerting so convincingly. We checked for any items of clothing or any object that might be up there, but nothing. We moved on to the third group of snow gums and the Jochen again alerted as before.
At each alert Peter and Scott took GPS and compass bearings and Jochen was absolutely consistent in the direction he was alerting. By now it was getting late in the afternoon and we had to be back at camp before nightfall.

The next morning after the sun had melted the ice on the scrub (during the night it was about -9C) we set off again, this time heading for a group of snow gums lower down the slope. At the first group of gums Jochen showed interest but did not alert. We moved to the next group and this time he alerted at strongly as the day before and still up into the tops of the trees. The same applied at the 3rd group. The points were marked again and showed that Jochen was as consistent as on the previous day.

He was however absolutely exhausted (only someone who has been in this stuff can appreciate how gruelling the scrub is) and we decided to head back to camp. In fact, we had all had enough and no one can understand how we all managed to avoid injury. We had all been searching for 6 hours. The guys were absolutely amazed at Jochen’s performance saying that he was their best asset. They had never seen a dog work so hard and so well. They were also astonished at his consistency in his alert behaviour and direction.

It was considered too dangerous to continue the search as we would be risking life and limb including the real possibility that Jochen would get wet. If this were to happen, we would never get him dry and freezing to death was a probability.

From here on in, the fun really started as two fronts were reported to be coming in and there was no way we could be airlifted out Monday morning. The fronts rolled in and we were stuck in our tents for two days and three nights!!!!! I cannot sing the praise enough of a dog who is calm, sensible and laid back. We cooked and ate and slept in our tent and out of those interminable hours in in the tent, we were probably outside a total of one hour to poo and piddle. Jochen NEVER complained once. We spent day and night making sure that he was warm and having his own sleeping bag made a huge difference.

During the first night of the storm there were constant wind gusts of up to 120 kmph and each one sounded as if a freight train was about to hit us. At times our tent was almost flattened and sometimes I could feel the side of the tent on my face. Oh boy!!!!! There was about a 20 cm snow fall.

This morning was bright and clear and SUNNY! The helicopter was able to fly and we were all airlifted out by lunchtime. Oh joy.
There is so much more to tell but that will have to wait for the blog when I will have more time to go into finer detail. Certainly I was very proud of Peter and me and our capacity to not only survive such extreme conditions and function at a very high professional level, but I was so VERY,VERY proud of my wonderful canine partner, Jochen who has fulfilled his task as a SAR dog to the highest standard. I am very privileged to have Jochen in my life.

The Canadians heaped praise on Jochen and were also fulsome in their praise for Peter and my professionalism and capacity to trudge through the snow and scrub, able to keep up with them. They said that at age 66 I have set a new fitness standard they are going to match their new recruits against!! Beautiful words for my 66 year old ears.

As Jochen has been able to narrow the search area from the original 100 square km down to about 1 square km, they will keep searching. Some of the Canadians will stay and some more will arrive shortly to continue the search for Prabh. Also, at our recommendation 2 ½ weeks ago, they are bringing three dog teams over from NZ who should arrive on Friday. They will stay until Tuesday. Whilst on the one hand it does hurt a little that we are unable to finish our work due to financial constraints, it is good that some more dogs are coming who will hopefully confirm Jochen’s alerts and perhaps even find Prabh. If so, Jochen will have given them a head start. In search work it is the work of many that will eventually lead to a result.

We head back home tomorrow morning and will pick up Liesel from the boarding kennel on the way.
It has been a remarkable 12 days with much learned, new friends made, some new ground broken and most of all, through Jochen’s work, have hopefully brought the family closer to finding Prabh.

Elke, Peter and Jochen

[FatCanyoner]

The same guy also posted some interesting photos of the private search effort.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s8ffqzajubq37r7/-aYdxrsTMh

[Turfa]

yes, some interesting shots. This one in particular caught my eye.

shelter.jpg (140.18 KiB) Viewed 12018 times

[Strider]

Isn't this a National Park? And they are cutting down trees to make shelter???

[photohiker]

There's another photo of that hut crammed with people and dog, with a fire in it.

And this one: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s8ffqzajubq3 ... 280%29.jpg

Fuel stove inside a tent with all kinds of flammable items within cm...

[colinm]

This photo https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s8ffqzajubq3 ... 720%29.jpg
and particularly this photo https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s8ffqzajubq3 ... 720%29.jpg
appear to me to demonstrate that the boughs used to construct the shelter were sawn, and not merely found on the ground where they were snapped off by the gentle breezes.

[weeman]

Aren't open wood fires also banned in the area as well?

[Joomy]

This article is just bizarre. Completely out of touch with reality.

I have found most of Canadian coverage of this saga to be seriously ignorant. Still, an interesting development, and one that will no doubt influence search efforts from here on out.

There's another photo of that hut crammed with people and dog, with a fire in it.

And this one: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s8ffqzajubq3 ... 280%29.jpg

Fuel stove inside a tent with all kinds of flammable items within cm...

I'm not sure I care much about open fires, fires in huts or cutting branches for shelter when there's a search going on. These are rules meant for the general public, search parties should be given at least a little leeway. Fires are good for morale not to mention for keeping warm.

I also don't think cooking a fire in a tent is anything unusual, especially in the sort of weather that they described above. You just have to be extra careful.

[Strider]

I'm not sure I care much about open fires, fires in huts or cutting branches for shelter when there's a search going on. These are rules meant for the general public, search parties should be given at least a little leeway. Fires are good for morale not to mention for keeping warm.

Whilst I agree with the morale comment, there really is no excuse for the rest of it. These are experienced people who no doubt have tents and stoves at their disposal. Cutting down trees and lighting fires shows a total sense of ignorance for local rules and regulations.

We should be able to count on FatCanyoner to come along shortly and dob them in

[colinm]

These are rules meant for the general public, search parties should be given at least a little leeway.

But they are just members of the general public.

If they can't adequately resource a SAR such that they can conduct it legally, it would be reasonable to wonder whether they can conduct it safely. The description given of conditions there during the deployment did suggest that the prevailing conditions put the participants at considerable risk.

Personally, I'd cut them a whole lot of slack if they were looking for a live person as the potential for good would outweigh the actual harm of cutting green wood. The situation obtaining is not that, however.

Colin.

[Onestepmore]

I doubt they realise (or care perhaps?) how slowly these trees regrow at those low max summer temps, nor how long it takes for the lower plant damage to regenerate after a fire ring is made.
There were comments I have read regarding frustration at how long it took for permission to be gained to allow sniffer dogs to be allowed in the Park - surely they would have been informed about some of the other basic NP regulations? I wonder how human waste disposal has been organised for a large party such as this? I don't doubt that their mark on the landscape will remain for a much longer time than their missing buswalker does.

I feel a lot of sympathy for this family, but I think reality needs to faced

[Lindsay]

Perhaps this private search effort could be taken a bit more seriously if less time was taken up posing for photographs and building illegal and unnecessary shelters.

[wayno]

i hope the family arent over stretching themselves financially, they are flying the rescuers everywhere..... hopefully they find him soon or stop teh search before they have financial problems from the massive cost of the search...

[Occam]

If I disappear I'd want a family like them.

[wayno]

well i only hope in the unlikely event you do disappear your family don't bankrupt themselves in the process of trying to find you. what if they don't get the body back? i'd hate to think they'd pushed themselves over the financial brink to do all this... none of the searchers are having to endure the financial burden the family are they are encouraging further expenditure on an unknown outcome.

[colinm]

It's all fun and games until a rescuer gets harmed. If I could nominate someone to arrange a search and rescue, it would be someone who conducted the process like Sherlock Holmes, not like John Holmes.

What I'm observing is a lot of irrationality driving what is little more than a ceremony. Their irrationality is understandable, given the family's straits, and their loss and grief. I do not think it is seemly for the state to fund peoples' ceremony, and I do not think it is ethical to conduct ceremonies which might become sacrificial.

I think there is much to be criticised about the way NSW conducts its searches - I believe it's only a fairly recent innovation for Police Rescue to wear something other than overalls, for example. From my reading the search mechanisms are more bureaucratic than inspired, and some of that is in the nature of a peculiarly Australian disease (feral bureaucracies, incompetent leaders, rigid and thoughtless regulation.) One thing I don't think you could ever accuse Australian bureaucracy of, though, is reckless risk taking, and that's a positive.

I am surprised that we don't have a dog squad for search, I'm surprised we don't have real helicopter-mounted heat sensors (except, I presume, to detect suburban drug production,) I'm surprised we don't have a broad requirement for night-vision quals in helicopter crews. These are perhaps things we could change and lessons we should learn. I doubt any of those things would have made any difference at all in this case.

I would characterise the narrative so far as a battle between a lumpen lurching mechanical stodgy steam-driven machine (with good live people at its searching periphery) and a frantic frenetic neurotic ignorant entitled mess of grief (with good live people at its searching periphery.)

It's a battle between two different kinds of corrosive irrationality, as I see it, and taking sides is less useful than working out what actually would make sense.

[photohiker]

I also don't think cooking a fire in a tent is anything unusual, especially in the sort of weather that they described above. You just have to be extra careful.

I agree that cooking in a tent is not unusual, and wouldn't have mentioned it if normal safety practices were being even vaguely followed. The risks of cooking in a tent are known and managed by the care of the operator. Failure means that there is a high probability of personal injury requiring immediate medical help and loss of the shelter which could be disastrous in the conditions described.



Hardly the sort of behaviour expected from a search party IMO.

The disregard for safety, the bush, (and the law) reduces any respect I may have for these search efforts.

[Lindsay]

Dare I suggest that some of the persons involved in the private search are treating this more as an adventure holiday rather than a serious rescue/recovery effort.

[wayno]

they arent all SAR professionals so how are they supposed to know what a serious SAR operation is conducted...

[Travis22]

I feel a lot of sympathy for this family, but I think reality needs to faced

Spot on.

Thanks for the updates FC, i had missed the dog teams report.

Travis.

[Onestepmore]

Thanks for the updates FC, i had missed the dog teams report.

Travis.

It was on the Facebook site too. There were few more picks of the different dogs used (more of the working shorthaired border collie x looking types than the German Shepherd pictured above)
https://www.facebook.com/HelpFindPrabhSrawn?fref=ts

I cringed at one of the psychic medium's comments, where she has decribed the orientation in which he is lying. Then her comment asking if the sun rose in the east in Australia......

[petrie]

This account has just been posted on the Australian Swiss Search Dog Association fb page by one of the searchers. I hope the family have been helped by EXPERIENCED Aussie outdoors people.... but it doesn't sound like it. ~

"The daily problems faced by Prabh’s Family

At one level, I think most people will find it fairly easy to feel for the dreadful plight Prabh’s sister and parents will continue to suffer until he is found. But I believe that many will have no idea what it means for the family to deal with his disappearance on a daily basis. Until we became involved, we had no idea either.

Before I go on, I do hope that I will not cause the family any embarrassment. That is certainly not my intention but rather to give people a deeper insight that normally is not possible.

Consider the following – The family and close friends live in a simple motel in the village of Jindabyne which services the snowboarders and skiers in winter and the bushwalkers and fishermen in the summer months. The motel rooms are basic containing one queen size bed and usually two bunk beds, a separate toilet, a strangely designed shower, a simple clothes cupboard and the usual chest of drawers with a TV and small fridge.

I was utterly astonished when I realised that the family is not able to stay in the same room continuously because rooms have been booked months in advance. Therefore, they have to pack up all their belongings and shift to another room…and another…and another… Imagine the disruption and stress this causes these people who are already stressed and grieving. They live with impermanence, uncertainty, never able to fully settle in.

In addition, they constantly have strangers arriving who want to help but who inevitably intrude on the little bit of space they have. Privacy is an illusion. These would-be helpers need to be accommodated, fed and often enough even kitted out with the appropriate gear before they can be sent out into the wilderness. And the family has to decide whether these helpers are actually capable of helping or whether they might in fact need help themselves because they may not be skilled and experienced enough to assist in the search for Prabh. Because the family is now driving the search for him, they are in a way responsible for the searchers and this must surely add to their pressure.

But it gets even more difficult. Every time we all went out on a search and stayed out overnight, all our clothes and gear that we did not take with us had to be gathered up and either deposited in one of the family’s two rooms or, in our case, in our car. The last time we went searching, we all stayed out for four nights. Given all the problems attached to the departure for that search attempt, none of us thought of clearing out our rooms. From memory, that meant that at least three rooms were left full of gear.

Naturally at some point during those days, the rooms had been booked out and people wanted to move in. So the family had to go into each room and carefully gather up all the belongings in such a way that they did not mix it up – gear belonging to 16 people!

When we arrived back from our search stint and waiting out a storm for three days and two nights, we all looked forward to our rooms, a shower and change and relaxation. But…our rooms were occupied. Where was our gear and where would we all sleep? We were stunned. The family tried to stay calm and keep us all calm whilst leading us to a room in the main part of the motel.

Well!!! Our eyes nearly popped out. This was a long room lined on both sides with bunk beds with just a narrow aisle between. There was one tiny, inadequate bathroom at one end and, because I tend to explore, I found a ladies and gents toilets with a shower in each at the other end and down a passage way. This accommodation was about as basic as it gets.

Our gear arrived in black plastic bags and we all fished around until we were reunited with our belongings. As there were no cupboards and no space, in a very short space of time the place looked like a jumble sale and we had to carefully negotiate a way over and around backpacks, boots, bags and wet clothes. Peter and I were lucky in that there was one small room leading off the main room with one bunk bed. This was a concession to me as the only female on the search party and we could keep Jochen with us, which we had been able to do in the other room as well.

I looked at this unholy mess, didn’t know where to start, and said that I had lost the will to live. However….I did manage to keep myself together and look at the family that was valiantly trying to keep us all happy. They looked stressed, embarrassed and pained. They did not want it to be like this but they had no choice whatsoever. In fact, we were lucky to even have this space as the rest of the motel was completely booked out and management was doing everyone a favour.

Once we had adjusted to these changed accommodation conditions, we all just got on with it and made the best of it. And really, in the end it was ok. Certainly it was an improvement to sleeping in tents on thin mats in the snow in freezing conditions.

This is only one example of the daily problems the family faces in keeping up their faith that Prabh will be found. They have to deal with managing the ongoing search activities, coming to grips with the enormous logistics of such an undertaking, having to be polite to strangers, having to place their trust in people they don’t know at all, and this day after day…We all eventually go home because we must. We have work, our own families and business to attend to. But Prabh’s family cannot go home. Apart from the overarching fact that Prabh is still missing, daily life is not easy and yet they keep going, patient, polite, smiling, and thankful for any help that is offered.
Our hearts go out to the family."

[Lindsay]

The above account shows the dangerously amateurish nature of this operation. An issue with hotel rooms is one thing, however translate this lack of organisation and preparation to the field and people stand an excellent chance of becoming the object of a SAR operation themselves.

[Strider]

These guys sound like they couldn't organise a root in a brothel.

Fancy saying you'd lost the will to live when acting as part of a search for someone who is missing, presumed dead! They should be focussing on the search, not on other non-life threatening issues plaguing the family or themselves.

[Nuts]

At least show some respect! Remember this is still merely a distraught, possibly grieving family... and a media circus. I sincerely hope that they do find this guy and nobody else is lost. Sounds like they have some co-operation with government agencies, perhaps they need formal co-ordination from one of those who will 'never stop looking'?

[FatCanyoner]

a media circus

That's a bit over the top mate. The only media that has been generated in the last month or so has been proactively generated by the family, mainly to try and put pressure on the authorities. It's pretty hard to be sympathetic with the the family over their need to handle media when they are the ones who have been contacting / talking to the media, as well as forwarding on correspondence etc, talking on radio, badmouthing searchers, and spreading their private search across the entire internet. You can't have it both ways. The family wants to generate media / public interest to maintain attention for their cause. It's absurd to then claim they are suffering because of a "media circus". You can't have things both ways.

[Nuts]

Why does it really matter who currently has the stage. I imagine as time goes by, unfortunately, the family may well be the only one's left. I had in mind petrie's post, i baulked at approving it thinking that some here would make more of her blog link than it is, at any cost. Iv'e said before, maybe even in the face of fact- if it was my family member nothing would be good enough... yours?

[FatCanyoner]

Iv'e said before, maybe even in the face of fact- if it was my family member nothing would be good enough... yours?

If I was the missing one I'd hope my family do the exact opposite of what has happened here. I definitely wouldn't want other people putting their lives at risk based on some irrational hope I was still alive. My wife knows not to call in a rescue unless I'm at least 24 hours late -- longer for some trips -- for the exact same reason. No need to put other people at risk through a search unless it is absolutely necessary. I probably should chat with her about this sort of eventuality, where I couldn't be found in a reasonable time.

Personally, I'd want my family to work with the experts, not against them. I'd want them to take the advice of authorities, not disregard it. And I'd want them to be realistic, and accept the point where to continue the search would likely be fruitless, so not worth risking the safety of others.

When we step into the bush, we do so at our own risk. I accept that. When my kids are older, I'll ensure they understand it too. It's a great privilege to explore nature, but every so often mother nature calls in the debt. If you don't want to take that risk, don't go bush. I certainly don't expect others to mitigate the risks for me. I'm willing to take responsibility for myself. Anything else is downright selfish, much like the search that is going on down in the Snowies at the moment...

[Nuts]

Well, that all sounds great. Life isn't perfect, forget yourself, as I said- put (eg) your wife up there in the scenario where agencies have pulled the pin, to me we here could do nothing but forgive your irrationality.

Iv'e found this discussion.. in the topic that it is.. pretty distasteful from the start.