Date: March 27, 2014
Catoctin Mountain Park
News Release
March
27, 2014
For
Immediate Release
Debra
Mills
Catoctin
Mountain Park to Host the 2014 National Park Service Basic Technical Rescue
Training
News Release
Catoctin Mountain Park will host the East Coast
session of the 2014 National Park Service Basic Technical Rescue Training. The
Catoctin Mountain Park location moves the Basic Technical Rescue Training to
its tenth state and fourth NPS region. This course is in its 18th year, and is one of the most outstanding
training opportunities offered in the National Park Service. The 30 National
Park Service Rangers and agency partners participating in this course, based in
Catoctin Mountain Park's Camp Round Meadow, will spend five intense days
learning how to rig the ropes and climbing equipment needed to rescue people
trapped in dangerous and often remote mountainous settings.This course is not open to the public and
media will need an escort to enter the training site due to the hazardous
nature of the activity.
The highly skilled instructor cadre is comprised of
experienced emergency responders and recreation outfitters who will teach basic
rigging and rappelling in the Camp Round Meadow Gymnasium. Rangers will then practice
rescue scenarios on sheer rock faces in Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland,
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia and at Michaux State Forest, Pennsylvania. Class
participants will face the challenges of transporting bulky and heavy equipment
over rough terrain, working in existing weather conditions and in dangerous vertical
locations similar to those encountered in actual rescue situations.
Catoctin Mountain Park is one of over 400 units administered by the
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Correspondence should
be addressed to: Superintendent, Catoctin Mountain Park, 6602 Foxville Road,
Thurmont, MD 21788. Our website address is www.nps.gov/cato.The Visitor Center is open from 9:30 a.m.
until 5:00 p.m. daily. Emergency calls should be directed to the National
Capital Region Communications Center at 1-866-677-6677.
