Posted on 03/07/2005 12:30:03 PM PST by Ramonan
MONTPELIER, Vt -- Four Pennsylvania men who were lost in the woods for 30 hours in December after going out of bounds at Killington Resort were sent bills Thursday for the cost of their rescue by state police.
Each of the men was assessed $4,177.87 to cover the cost of the rescue, said Lt. Donald Patch, whose barracks was in charge of the search Dec. 20, a night when temperatures plummeted to between 20 and 25 below zero.
"Let's face the facts: Some people get lost accidentally, things happen, they make a mistake and that's one thing," Patch said. "When you're purposely skiing out of bounds, knowing you're going out of bounds, that's a different story, especially when you're not prepared."
"It's one thing when you get a bill from the (ski) area ... It's another when you get one from state police: 'And here's your bill for being ignorant.'" - Killington Resort spokesman Tom Horrocks
State police say the men from Perkasie, Pa., north of Philadelphia, were negligent because they ignored at least three large, fluorescent orange warning signs that they were off the trails.
The four men -- two on skis and two on snowboards -- from Perkasie, Pa., survived on gum, breath mints and snow melted over a fire they built with a lighter and some wet sticks of wood wrapped with a headband.
Michael Styer, Jared Raytek and Thomas Arnold, all 23, and Jared Rush, 22, were treated at Rutland Regional Medical Center after their ordeal in December. On Thursday, they got their bills.
A message left for Arnold, the only one of the men with a telephone listing in Perkasie, was not immediately returned.
The group skied out of bounds at the Killington ski area around 12:15 p.m. Dec. 19 and finally were reported missing by a friend 15 hours later. State police organized three dozen rescue workers and launched a search at 4:30 a.m. Dec. 20.
A Vermont National Guard helicopter finally spotted the men's campfire about 3 p.m. that day. The men and their rescuers emerged from the woods about two hours later.
Killington Resort, which contributed personnel, snowmobiles and a snow tractor to assist in the search, did not bill the men, spokesman Tom Horrocks said. The resorts have given up responsibility for searches and rescues to state police, he said.
"It's one thing when you get a bill from the (ski) area," he said. "It's another when you get one from state police: `And here's your bill for being ignorant."'
Killington posts signs warning skiers and snowboarders when they're approaching resort boundaries. There also are a series of signs beyond the border to tell people that they've crossed out of bounds and to turn back unless they're experienced in backcountry treks and are prepared for an emergency.
"There's plenty of warning," Horrocks said.
Three or four searches and rescues typically have to be organized each year, said David Dillon, president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association. In the past, when the resorts themselves were responsible, the ski areas would occasionally bill people who got lost in the woods. Often, though, the bills went unpaid, he said.
The total $16,711.48 represents overtime for state police and the costs incurred by two local search and rescue teams that were called in, said Maj. James Baker. The cost of the National Guard helicopter was not passed along to the four men.
"We're reviewing one other case from this year. We're looking at that case to determine if we're going to do it," Baker said of a January rescue, also at Killington. "In this case we determined that we believe their behavior put a lot of folks in danger and they knew what they were doing and as a result of that we billed them."
Paragraph 3: BRAVO!
SPOT ON.
To quote another Freeper
"Evolution Stops when Stupidity ceases to be fatal"
Agreed, this was "stupid" not ignorant.
Did they ask to be resued? I'd hate to see police manufacture crises in order to start billing for their "services". ;-)
Here's a permanent fiscal solution: a tax on IQ deficiency. the Rats would naturally object, as it would target one of their core constituencies.
They should just consider it "tuition" costs from the School of Hard Knocks.
I can't figure out which is worse: skiing into the woods at midnight in subzero temperatures, or not beinng able to follow three sets of ski trails back to their origin the next day.
Best idea I heard all year.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits".
One way to look at it is, "here's your life back, and it only cost $4,000". I bet lots of people out in -25 below zero with nothing but breath mints would have jumped at the bargain.
Do fire departments charge for stupid fires?
Isn't this why we pay taxes to pay for these services?
"Even if it is a democracy, in a democracy it don't matter how stupid you are, you still get an equal share." Lennie Pike in Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World.
I was thinking the same thing.
How much is your life worth?
They were billed for intentionally ignoring trail warning signs. THe title makes it appear they were unaware of the signs.
That is an excellent, LEVEL-HEADED post!
Stupid is forever...ignorance can be fixed. SF
Or, conversely, it might cause people to not intentionally ignore trail matkers.
There is already a tax on low IQ's; the lottery.
I went to college in VT. One of my classmates was a VT State Trooper. In winter storms, if out-of-staters went off road, he would summon help, and once back on the road, he would give them a ticket for failure to stay in marked lines or something like that.
Well done, VT.
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