“Help, help！A hiker from the Green Hiking Team has gone missing in the hills around West Lake, and their current condition is unknown.” At noon the day before yesterday, an unexpected call immediately threw the 31st floor of Jiahui Building on Zhaohui Road in Hangzhou into a flurry of activity: one phone call after another was made—to the 110 emergency hotline, to the radio enthusiasts association, and to various rescue team members; at the same time, several young people rushed into the warehouse to prepare ropes, slings, walkie-talkies, GPS devices, and other rescue supplies. Within an hour, the first rescue team had already headed downstairs and set off for the hills around West Lake, while other teams also began converging on the area one after another.
This was the very first rescue drill carried out by the newly established Zhejiang Mountain Outdoor Rescue Team. The team leader Zhang Yang explained the situation: “A member of a green hiking team has gone missing in these hills. Their mobile signal is now cut off and they can’t be contacted. All we know is that the last time they were in touch with the outside world, they said: where they were standing, there was a body of water visible to the southeast, and a major urban road could be seen to the west-northwest.”
Three search teams immediately set out in different directions, forming a pincer movement. At the command post, updates on the movements of all three teams were continuously reported. Half an hour later, the first team sent word: “We’ve spotted West Lake in the southeast corner, and beyond that you can see a major urban road—it’s Tianmushan Road. This must be where the missing person passed through!”
Five minutes later, the third team reported: they had reached the ridgeline of General’s Hill. At 3:08 PM, the third team delivered good news: “We’ve found the missing person. Based on the scene, it seems they fell into a 3-meter-deep valley while looking for a place to urinate. They’re currently unconscious. We request the medical team to come immediately!”
Outdoor sports are booming, but outdoor rescue is almost entirely non-existent. “A mountain rescue team isn’t just about gathering a bunch of so-called experts. We’re more like a resource center, capable of assembling the best resources in the shortest time, mobilizing the strength of outdoor groups, and coordinating with relevant government departments in search and rescue operations. Only then can we race against time to save lives,” said Zhang Yang. (China Shoe Network – the most authoritative and professional shoe industry information center)