Hi Folks,

There is a group that is overdue traveling from Chamberlain, ID to Salt Lake today. We think they are waiting out the weather (bad) but no one can get ahold of them.

Does anyone have an idea on how to contact anyone, anywhere near Chamberlain Basin???

Thanks for the help-

Hopefully they are still on the ground at Chamberlain.

The closest web cam used to be at Root Ranch. There was one pointing north and one south. Just might give some idea of relatively local Wx.

I can not imagine that they are carrying enough fuel to go non stop from Chamberlain to Salt Lake.
If they were smart they would have left a notice on the bulletin board that I remember being outside of Lori's McCall Mountain Canyon Flying school in the old red Pioneer barn.
I would leave messages at McCall Air, McCall Mountain Canyon Flying, Arnold Aviation in Cascade. etc.
They could easily "get way" from McCall if they use the self serve pump.
The next area south would be Council if they are looking for cheaper fuel, then Emmet and all the other Boise area airports.

If you know the names and tail #, folks could ask all these places to give a call if they see them.

Best I can do from Palo Alto Ca.

I would almost bet (and hope) that they are waiting for better weather. I live in Emmett (just northwest of Boise) and the weather to the north and east into the mountains didn't look good. Also, the ceiling looked pretty low. I talked to a friend this afternoon and he said they had to scud run to get out of Johnson Creek and back to the Boise area.

My friends that were camping at Chamberlain over the weekend are back home safe. They were hoping to get back Sunday but the weather kept them grounded so they flew home this morning instead. When looking at the weather forecast before leaving for the weekend they knew there was a chance they would not be able to fly home on Sunday and when the time came they made the prudent choice. It is always better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground.

Thanks for the update PP. Jim's brother (Bill) called me last night to see if I had any info on Chamberlain. I posted here to see if there were any contacts nearby but all is well. We figured they were waiting out the weather-

It's good to know they're all home and safe. Thanks for the update.

IMO this type of situation is a perfect example why pilots that fly into remote areas should have a satellite phone. I bought mine used from Outfitter Satellite for about $500 and while it costs me $40 per month and about $1.50 per minute, I can ALWAYS tell people where I am and what I am doing. If you can afford to fly, you can afford to be responsible to others. Additionaly you can rent satellite phones for around $6 per day if I remember correctly. For those that do not fly often enough into the bush, a rental would make a lot of sense (sense?).

The SPOT hand held would also be acceptable and this is at a cost of $150 per year assuming you can still get a free one. If not, an additional $150 for a one time purchase. That is not enough money to put family and friends thru the anguish of not knowing what is happening to you.

FloatFlyer wrote:IMO this type of situation is a perfect example why pilots that fly into remote areas should have a satellite phone. I bought mine used from Outfitter Satellite for about $500 and while it costs me $40 per month and about $1.50 per minute, I can ALWAYS tell people where I am and what I am doing. If you can afford to fly, you can afford to be responsible to others. Additionaly you can rent satellite phones for around $6 per day if I remember correctly. For those that do not fly often enough into the bush, a rental would make a lot of sense (sense?).

The SPOT hand held would also be acceptable and this is at a cost of $150 per year assuming you can still get a free one. If not, an additional $150 for a one time purchase. That is not enough money to put family and friends thru the anguish of not knowing what is happening to you.

I'm glad the guy's got home safely.

And I agree with the above statement. Even $150.00 for the SPOT and $100.00 a year for the service is priceless. I'll never fly without mine!!

I too was camped (to the west of) with Jim and Steve. We all were stuck Sunday unable to get out safely and had to spend another night (wet). There was a small break in the WX on Monday morning, they took off East and my party took off West. I only made it to Johnson Creek and had to wait out the WX, but was able to make a telephone call back home. The icing level was low and the clouds were too. We talked about this before launching from Chamberlain. I did make use of my orange SPOT which let my family and work know I was OK and in the same position (not at home yet or any closer). It worked just fine and my family and work back home understood my transmission.
If you don't have a Sat phone the SPOT worked well.
Rob Ryan