FromThe Wall Street Journal, "Summer Reads for Your Inner Nerd," July 29-30, 2017: Elevator Pitch: "Butch" Farabee has participated in over 900 missions with Yosemite Search and Rescue. In this book, he chronicles those that his team and others have undertaken. Some stories end relatively favorably, like that of an Austrian climber who was rescued by helicopter from El Capitan—and who managed to have his severed thumb reattached. Others end in tragedy (you can tell by the foreboding synopses, like "A peaceful rafting trip goes terribly wrong," that precede the stories). All of these cautionary tales are followed by a "Takeaway" section, which explains mistakes that triggered the crisis ("disobeyed a warning sign," "wore the wrong boots"). Very Brief excerpt:"As day eight dawned, [photographer Galen Rowell and master climber Warren Harding] knew they were in true trouble, and might not survive. Rowell was complete soaked, his toes and fingers totally numb, but he still hoped to make it down the 1,400 feet of snow-covered cliff to the base of Half Dome."
FromNational Parks Traveler, "Essential Park Guide," August 15, 2017:When the Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) men and women head out, they might be plucking a hiker from icy waters, evacuating a climber from a sheer cliff, or recovering the body of someone who wasn't even that lucky. While the technical rescues are pored over on social media, many of their rescues are more mundane: a broken arm after a slipper mistake on the Mist Trail, an elderly gent who is short-of-breath on the Glacier Point Trail, or a lost child in the mayhem of Yosemite Valley. This group trains, trains, and trains some more so it's ready for anything when the call comes, and Butch Farabee has described the hazards, rescues, and history of YOSAR in this new book from the Yosemite Conservancy. He describes dozens of rescue with helicopters, ropes, boats, scuba gear, and even pack animals. There are stories of climbing rescues, fast water rescues, disappearances, and even of animals that need to be saved. Farabee, a retired ranger, also describes the early search-and-rescue days in the 1970s, and how events led to this full-time, professional rescue team. . . . Farabee writes of the successful rescues, and others with worse outcomes. For instance, in 1966 a nuclear scientist, Quin Frizzell, disappeared on a hike from Tenaya Lake to Yosemite Valley. The search involved more than 100 personnel in rugged terrain, complicated by the fact that Frizzle had a top-secret security clearance. Five years later his skeleton was discovered by the author, with bones still inside boots, and to the wishes of his wife, he was buried in place.
From Outside Online, September 2017:
Yosemite National Park is home to some of the nation’s most beautiful natural features that can turn deadly with just one wrong step. In Big Walls, Swift Waters, search and rescue veteran Charles R. “Butch” Farabee goes deep on all the ways visitors get into trouble in the park—and the heroic efforts of the SAR teams who try to help them.
Big Walls, Swift Waters is a little bit of everything. It’s a history, a compilation of case studies, and an instructional guide about rescue equipment and techniques. Well illustrated with photographs from past rescues, author Charles “Butch” Farabee documents many of the classic search and rescues that have occurred in Yosemite National Park. It’s a fascinating, insider’s view of rescue, and you’ll find yourself rappelling out of helicopters, hanging on granite walls, and plunging into icy waters.—National Outdoor Book Awards
From Climbing, August 2017:
Farabee, a onetime National Park Service employee who participated in 800 Yosemite SAR missions, employs his considerable Valley knowledge to produce this textually and graphically rich account of SAR lore. Over 220 pages, Farabee, the co-author of 2007’s classic Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite, explores the history of wall and water rescues in the Valley, with invaluable takeaways for readers who want to avoid tragedy themselves.