Guam's hiking community, along with friends and family, are mourning the death of Reed Topasna, who died Saturday evening after a 35-foot fall into a hole during a hike in the Mount Taene area in Sånta Rita-Sumai. Topasna, an avid hiker for the past 30 years, was in the Mount Taene area celebrating his “birthday hike,” according to his cousin and fellow hiker Ryan San Nicolas. “Yesterday was his birthday, too, from what I know.
He passed away and that was like a birthday hike for him,” San Nicolas said. “From the details that I know, he fell into a hole that was 35 feet in depth.” “It’s just sad, all the circumstances, how it happened, and it happened on his birthday.
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When I got off the phone with his wife, ...
I didn’t know the scope and the magnitude of the situation, the 35-foot hole. I was like, 'Reed will get out.' An hour later, I found out he passed,” San Nicolas said The Guam Fire Department responded to Mount Taene at 2:46 p.
m. Saturday. “The distressed hiker, a 53-year-old male, fell in a hole approximately 35 feet.
GFD rescue personnel conducted rope rescue operations and were able to make contact with the patient and extract him out of the hole. While conducting their assessment of the patient, the patient became pulseless and breathless. GFD, with the assistance of Joint Region Marianas Fire and Emergency Services, conducted CPR in the trail and (a helicopter and crew from U.
S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25) arrived on scene and transported the patient to Naval Hospital,” GFD spokesperson Nick Garrido said in a press release around 8 p.m.
Saturday. According to San Nicolas, the extraction took several hours, which had Topasna's family questioning why it took so long. “When I spoke with his wife last night, when I found out, she had told me that because it was happening in real time.
I called her around 7:30 p.m. and from what I gather, he fell in the hole roughly around 2:30 p.
m. and they were still trying to pull him out,” San Nicolas said. Garrido told The Guam Daily Post on Sunday that it was GFD’s first time responding to a distressed hiker call in the Mount Taene area, which he described as difficult terrain.
“The information received from the guys on the ground was that the vegetation was thick. It was over their heads, like 2 to 3 feet. They actually had to create a trail basically from the beginning where they started at to get to the location where the hole was at,” Garrido explained.
“It’s not a common area of where we’ve responded to, nor is it a common area for hikers.” Topasna was part of a group of five hikers who began their hike near the Hågat fire station. GFD took a different route near the Naval Magazine, an hour out from the hole.
“The big thing is every rescue mission is always slow and methodical,” Garrido said. The information initially received did not prepare rescuers for what they encountered at the scene, he said. “The information we received (was) for (a) male individual who was conscious and responsive, however, (he) had fell into a hole approximately 3 to 5 feet was the information we received on the 911 side, so it was definitely different from what happened when we made it to the actual hole - it was 35 plus.
On top of that, when given the information on the latitude and longitude of the location, we have to get the coordinates and plot it,” Garrido said. He said the area where Topasna fell is not open or flat. In fact, the hole they extracted him from was over and under a cliff ridge.
“The crews had to clear vegetation ...
to be able to find an anchor point to conduct a technical rope, ...
(a) life safety line. Then they went over the edge and essentially rappelled or get lowered into the area. It’s not necessarily flat like a wall they went over the edge and under,” Garrido said, explaining the challenges of the mission.
When GFD reached Topasna, Garrido said, an assessment was conducted, and he was prepped for extraction, which had to be done with safety in mind. “That was one of the biggest concerns that they had was they felt the area they were standing on where they set up was hollow and for them, it was a concern not just for the rescuers but the other hikers and the rescuers they sent over the edge. They sent two rescuers over the edge,” Garrido explained further.
“As they were bringing him up, because of where they were located at the bottom over the hole, it was not able to manipulate, so they had to reset. When they reset is when he became unresponsive,” Garrido added. San Nicolas said he did not know if the Mount Taene hike was a familiar one for Topasna, but he knew that Topasna always practiced safety.
“I am not too familiar with that area, but I know with Reed, safety was the rule of thumb. Every time we go on hikes, we make sure we have our checklist, ropes, first-aid kit and everything, we had machetes to cut down grass - all of that. He was our hike leader.
So, whatever he says, we’re following,” San Nicolas said. According to San Nicolas, Topasna would often volunteer to search for missing hikers to bring them to safety. “Recently, they had a lost hiker who was missing for 24 hours, he was there, with Fire and Rescue and (the Guam Police Department) and military and everything.
He went in and helped find the guy. Aside from being the hike leader, he was also the guy you called. All the safety agencies, it was like, 'Call Reed, he’s been down here before,'” San Nicolas said.
He said Topasna loved to share the beauty of the island with a hike. “He was always about safety and that’s why I am just in disbelief. Again, I have seen the guy in action, where he always goes in and comes out,” San Nicolas said.
“He brought lot of joy to a lot of people, especially military families. He was always big on bringing them out, showing them the beauty of our island.” He said Topasna is one of the founding members of the Muddy, Dehydrated and Burnt, or MDB, hiking group.
Topasna was also part of various other hiking groups, such as the Guam Boonie Stompers. “He was a great guy. He was great to everybody.
He’s developed a lot of relationships over the years. I think a lot of people are in just in shock right now. If anything, he went out doing what he loved,” San Nicolas said.
“The night before he had called me to wish me happy birthday because we are both born in August. We were already planning on doing another hike.” San Nicolas described Topasna as a person who loved to hike.
He said it was an outlet for him, one that reconnected them as cousins over the last three years. “If you needed anything, the guy was there ready to help any way he could. He was an all-around good guy.
If you were going through some personal issues, regardless of what it was, he would always say, 'Why don’t you come out? I’ll take you on a hike,'” San Nicolas said. The last time San Nicolas hiked with Topasna was a couple of months ago. “We went down to Inalåhan, and it was just one of those hikes, talk, sit down, take a break and have lunch down there.
Again, I was in disbelief. My heart goes out to the family,” San Nicolas said. “He’s an all-around great guy.
He will be missed, my condolences to his wife and his kids, I know they are going to take it hard.”.
