Officials in Nantou County yesterday reminded the public that emergency services personnel do not operate like online food delivery business after it recently refused a request by a mountaineering group that ran out of food when they were undertaking a multiple-day traverse through high mountains.
Nantou County Fire Bureau said it received a call on Friday from the leader of a six-person trekking group, asking it to bring food supplies to their campsite nearby Wushuangshan (無雙山).
“We asked for more information, to ascertain members of this group were not in any danger or experiencing a medical emergency, but they had just run out of food while still trekking through the high mountains,” said Lin Cheng-yi (林正宜), captain of the bureau’s Third Corps, tasked with emergency services and mountain rescue missions
Photo courtesy of the Nantou County Fire Department
The hikers were taking on Taiwan’s famous South Third Section (南三段), an arduous trek across the Central Mountain Range, usually requiring about 10 days, with much of the course going through alpine trails and forests of Yushan National Park (玉山國家公園), as they headed from east to west, beginning the upward climb from a forestry road of Hualien County’s Rueishuei Township (瑞穗), Lin said.
He said the group started on Jan. 17 from the mountains of Hualien, trekking westward, passing by six peaks higher than 3,000 meters, among Taiwan’s “One-Hundred Peaks” and had planned to complete the traverse on Thursday, heading downslope from Junda Mountain (郡大山), nearby the indigenous Bunun Dongpu Village (東埔) in Nantou County.
“However, this trekking group met the recent cold wave, which brought freezing weather to the mountains” he said, adding that “they had difficulty negotiating the terrain, since many trails and walkways at high altitudes were frozen with ice and frost, which is treacherous for hiking and so they were slowed down, and could not reach the Dongpu area as per their schedule.
Due to the cold weather and taking more days to complete, the group leader called for help, saying they had run out of food, and asked for help to deliver supplies to them, reporting on Friday that they were camping at a 2,000-meter site on a slope of Wushuangshan, Lin said.
After checking to make sure they were not in any immediate danger or had other needs, “we told him that our unit is tasked with rescue and emergencies,” Lin said.
“We are not in the business of online food deliveries. We reminded hikers about their
responsibility to prepare sufficient food and water,” he added.
The leader of the hiking group then made telephone calls to companies in Nantou specializing in “mountain trekking services” providing guides and porters for carrying food supplies and mountaineering materials. These services would assist the group in the final stage of the traverse, Lin said, adding he kept in contact with them via phone, to ensure their safe passage to their intended destination.
Meanwhile, officials at Yushan National Park Headquarters issued reminders on the three main needs for high-mountain trekking.
The first is for drinking water, recommending to multiply each person’s weight in kilograms by 30cc for their daily water intake, and that they should carry twice that amount to to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances.
Second, the trekking group should carry food provisions that are ready to eat with quick heating, and which do not need too much water and energy for cooking, officials said.
Third, each group must take note of water supply information posted at most rest stops and mountain huts, and be prepared to go to listed streams and water sources for replenishment, as this must be taken into account when planning for multi-day trekking excursions, officials said.
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