What tea professionals need to start the week of June 23, 2014 —
TEAM UP participants in London last week presented a program to raise wages for tea workers… Nestle is withdrawing its Nestea bottled products from China… India tea production fell 24.5% in April…the Fill’er Up unlimited drink app CUPS makes it debut in New York City.
Tea Worker Wages
TEAM UP is an annual gathering of tea professionals hosted by the Ethical Tea Partnership and IDH The Sustainable Trade Initiative in a coalition that includes OXFAM and the German Development Agency GIZ.
Combined these organizations are seeking to remedy the issue of low pay on tea estates in several developing countries.
Many tea producing countries are so poor that legally mandated minimum wages not enough to give tea workers a living wage. While tea estates that pay their workers the legally agreed amount it is not sufficient to covers a household’s basic needs, explains ETP in a release following the event.
Work will focus initially on Malawi, Africa’s second biggest tea producer, where pickers earn two thirds of the World Bank poverty line income of around $2 per person per day. It is a small sum but tea workers are better off than 62% of the population, who exist on less than the World Bank’s extreme poverty line of $1.25 a day.
The coalition aims to help tea estates improve their productivity and profits and make more finance available to invest in improvements in return for a commitment to raise wages. They will also work with employers, unions and governments to agree phased improvements to wages – which are set at national or regional level – and increase worker representation in negotiations. The program will run for several years and inform similar work to raise wages in other countries.
Nestle first introduced its bottled tea in China in 2002, a program jointly backed by Coca-Cola known as Beverage Partners Worldwide.
Coca-Cola had previously attempted to market Tianyudi tea and a honey tea called Lanfeng. Neither survived.
It was thought the combined marketing efforts of the global beverage giants would make Nestea a success in competition with China’s Master Kong and Taiwan’s Uni-President brands.
According to an article in the Chinese publication Want China Times, Nestea’s market share peaked at 2.3% in 2008 according to Euromonitor International figures dropping to 1.9% in 2010. This led to Nestle and Coca-Cola’s decision to go their separate ways in China in 2012, with the Swiss company taking over the operations of Nestea in the country, while Coca-Cola focused on its Yuan Ye tea brand.
According to the latest report on China’s tea drink market published by Askci Corp, Master Kong and Uni-President now hold a combined market share of over 40%, reports Want China Times.
India Tea Production Falls 25%
Data from the early harvest have been compiled and declines due to the lack of rain were steep as projected.
Production in April declined 24.48% to 56.77 million kg due to lower output in Assam and other regions, according to a report in the Economic Times.
The production stood at 75.17 million kg in April 2013, according to Tea Board data.
Output in Assam, the largest tea-producing state, decreased by 40.34% to 25.33 million kg in April this year from 42.46 million kg a year earlier.
However, in West Bengal, production was up by 21.58% to 13.41 million kg during the month, from 11.03 million kg in April 2013.
The combined production of tea in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka decreased by 18.41% to 16.53 million kg from 20.26 million kg in the year-ago period.
India’s tea production in 2013-14 increased by 6.19% to 1,205.40 million kg from 1,135.07 million kg in 2012-13, according to Tea Board of India.
An Israeli software developer has teamed with 40 independent tea and coffee shops in New York to launch a new subscription phone app good for unlimited drinks for the month.
A $45 subscription covers as many cups as you wish of tea and regular coffee in any size. Upgrade to $85 and users can enjoy unlimited lattes, iced coffee and espresso drinks.
Alternately you can opt for a variable X-cups for $Y dollars fixed price (5 cups $7 for example).
You select your location. Select your drink and present your phone to the cashier. The cashier enters a payment confirmation code.
There is no cost for the shop to join and no point-of-sale integration. It is not a traditional loyalty program, more of a marketing strategy to bring new drinkers into your shop.
Co-founder Gilad Rotem anticipates 200 NY shops will participate as the program advances. Shop owners are paid a discounted rate for every cup purchased by customers using their phone. The fine print requires customers to wait 30 minutes between purchases and prevents them from sharing a login with their friends.
CUPS has been operating in Israel since 2012 after Rotem and four of his high school buddies came up with the idea.
Rotem told the New York Times “People love the notion of unlimited coffee and empowering independent coffee shops.”
Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision-making. Tea Biz reports what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery.
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Specialty tea pioneer John Haney died Tuesday. He was 83.
The founder of Harney & Sons in 1983, his contribution to the development of America’s specialty tea industry can hardly be overstated. He entered tea retail late in his life following a successful career that made his encore all the more spectacular.
Harney was known for his gentility and impeccable taste in tea. A master blender, his teas drew praise from the palaces of England and raised the profile of the entire industry.
“No man ever graced his profession more than John Harney has done for ours,” author and friend James Norwood Pratt told the audience in 2011 on the occasion of Harney’s acceptance of the Cha Jing Award for Lifetime Achievement in tea.
Thirty years ago Harney began spreading the culture of tea, he said, because in doing so “we’re spreading the business of tea.” With his sons Paul and Michael and grandson Emeric, Harney embraced and mastered all aspects of the business. His blends are best sellers in grocery and fine food stores and exported and sold worldwide including Buckingham Palace and the Grand Dorchester Hotel. His ready-to-drink line is served in fine restaurants and his loose leaf draws a steady crowd to the retail venture in SoHo managed by Emeric. Recently he produced a line of tea in capsules for Keurig brewing machines.
John and Elyse Harney, Bermuda, 2013.
Innovation was a hallmark yet the brand reflects the tradition and manners of traditional tea. In 1960 he managed the historic White Heart Inn, in Salisbury, Conn., mastering the art of hospitality. It was then he fell for tea serving loose leaf supplied by Sarum Tea to guests in the 1960s. In 1970 he joined Stanley Mason, owner of Sarum, working there until Mason’s death in 1980. Three years later at 53, he launched his namesake company.
The business has since grown to 170 people and occupies 90,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space in Millerton, NY. A new bottling facility is under construction.
The business will continue under the direction of sons Michael, 58, and Paul, daughter-in-law Brigitte and grandsons Emeric and Alexander.
Millerton, New York filling 90,000 square feet of warehouse space – See more at: http://www.worldteanews.com/news/three-generations-celebrate-30-years-fine-teas-harney-sons#sthash.622Fgpkb.dpuf
Millerton, New York filling 90,000 square feet of warehouse space, and employing over 170 people, – See more at: http://www.worldteanews.com/news/three-generations-celebrate-30-years-fine-teas-harney-sons#sthash.622Fgpkb.dpuf
Harney served in the U.S. Marine Corps. and graduated from the Cornell School of Hotel Management. He is survived by wife Elyse and five children John Jr., Michael, Keith, Elyse and Paul, and 10 grandchildren.
The funeral was June 20 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Burial was in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Lakeville, Conn.
Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision-making. Tea Biz reports what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery.
Tea Biz posts are available to use in your company newsletter or website. Purchase reprint and distribution rights for single articles or commission original content. Click here for details.
A row of tea infusion crucibles at the new Samovar Tea Bar in San Francisco.
What tea professionals need to start the week of June 16, 2014 —
Samovar Tea Bar launches a new tea retail concept worth watching…Honest Tea sells its billionth bottle… George Jage, founder of World Tea Expo, exits… Barak Obama sneaks out for a cup of tea.
Samovar’s Clever Retail Concept
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Jesse Jacobs, founder of Samovar Lounge last week unveiled a new tea retail concept that bears watching.
The Samovar Tea Bar, located at 411 Valencia St., advances the idea that takeaway tea can be fast, inexpensive and every bit as trendy as a “third-wave” coffee shop.
The brightly lit, open layout (designed by Arcanum Architecture) resembles an Apple Store. The 600 sq. ft. storefront requires a small staff. The only food on the menu are scones available in savory or sweet with jam or honey.
The most significant innovation, however, is a line of what Jacobs calls “crucible” brewers built into the service counter.
This puts customers directly in front of sommeliers wearing aprons who measure the tea, place it in the glass chamber and then press a touchscreen to fill the crucible with hot water, agitate and infuse the tea. Elapsed time is a couple of minutes with the tea decanted into a pitcher and poured into a cup.
Samovar Tea Bar Owner Jesse Jacobs
In a flash Jacobs demonstrates all the captivating interaction of a single-pour barista with a healthful beverage delivered faster than coffee. The machines make quite an impression.
Manufactured by Salt Lake City-based Alpha Dominche they sell for $15,000. Khristian Bombeck, founder and inventor at Alpha Dominche, designed the Steampunk 4.0 with a computer to control a wide range of specific parameters, such as water temperature, agitation and water pressure as well as three grades of metal filters to reproduce a range of brewing methods.
An added benefit of the system is that it’s programmable, allowing staff to recreate these parameters at the touch of the screen. This also means that the Steampunk requires only minimal operator training.
The shop is frenzied urban friendly with six teas priced between $3 and $5. These include a black, green and herbal and a matcha shot or shake. Seasonal options include an iced tea. A copper cauldron of chai makes it possible to get a cup of tea as quickly at Samovar as from the famous chaiwalla street vendors in Calcutta.
The tea bar is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in a part of the city known for exceptional coffee shops like Four Barrel Coffee just up the street. Expect it to draw a crowd.
George Jage Departs World Tea Expo
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Tears and toasts marked the departure of George Jage as the organizer and host of World Tea Expo, the most vibrant of North America’s tea gatherings.
Jage, who co-founded the annual tradeshow in 2002, will lead CannaBusiness Media, a Colorado-based publishing and event company serving the medical marijuana trade. CannaBusiness is a division of Anne Holland Ventures, Inc., headquartered in Pawtucket, R.I. Publications include the Marijuana Industry Directory, Marijuana Business Daily and the annual CannaBusiness Money Show.
His last day at F+W Media was June 11.
George Jage is moving on.
On the Saturday ending the show a crowd of friends and family filled the office during the final hour of the World Tea Expo. A portable bar appeared as the show floor closed and Jage announced his departure to the crowd of exhibitors with wife Kim and their two children nearby.
The outpouring of emotion that followed was spontaneous. There were testimonials and tearful goodbyes, a blend of sorrow and light-hearted ribbing about his new position.
Devan Shah, who invested more in the Expo than any other sponsor, told the crowd that Jage’s role in organizing World Tea Expo was indispensable in the development of America’s specialty tea industry.
James Norwood Pratt extolled Jage for his commitment and charm. Jane Pettigrew offered her congratulations and Suzette Hammond, Director of Education & Brand Communication Strategist at Rishi Tea, was so tearful she could only give him a hug.
Kim Jage watched proudly. She departed the company in October 2013.
Jage, President & Publisher at CannaBusiness Media,quipped that he intends to take his next assignment “to new highs.” The job is a perfect fit, it is as though I have been preparing for this position for years, he said.
He and his family will remain in Las Vegas.
A Billion Bottles
Sales of Honest Tea passed the billion bottle mark last week, an accomplishment that took 16 years. Astounding when you consider the company launched 85 different beverages under the label and bought 22 million pounds of organic and Fair Trade Certified ingredients to accomplish this feat.
“Sixteen years ago, it almost felt like I sold every bottle myself. It’s nice to see our brand and mission reach an audience well beyond my personal sales route! This is a testament to the persistence and faith of our team as well as the increasing acceptance of organic ingredients,” said co-founder & TeaEO Goldman.
“One of our core missions is to democratize organics,” said Goldman. “Now when I visit with our suppliers, they know it’s not just some guy who started a company out of his house, it’s a representative of The Coca-Cola Company.”
It took 10 years to sell 112 million bottles. Following the company’s acquisition in 2011 Honest Tea became available in 100,000 outlets. In the past six years sales grew by 888 million bottles. The company now buys 8 million pounds of organic ingredients a year, most of it tea.
President Barak Obama dashed from his Washington DC residence last week to visit a Starbucks on Pennsylvania Avenue, bypassing the media pool. He was accompanied by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and armed guards. He spent about eight minutes in the shop.
On their way back to the residence, a group of reporters arrived. Noticing the cup Bill Plante a CBS News reporter, loudly asked Obama, “how’s the coffee?”
“It’s tea,” the president responded.
The media subsequently ran 1,535 articles on the encounter.
Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision-making. Tea Biz reports what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery.
Tea Biz posts are available to use in your company newsletter or website. Purchase reprint and distribution rights for single articles or commission original content. Click here for details.
What tea professionals need to start the week of June 9, 2014 —
We should all be drinking iced tea this week in celebration of National Iced Tea Month and out of necessity as temperatures climb… Starbucks debuts an iced tea commercial promoting Teavana shaken tea (with a national tea giveaway Tuesday)… Nestea positions for a comeback… the final count is in on India’s 2013 harvest… and coverage of this year’s World Tea Expo in Long Beach, Calif.
Single-origin, fast-chill, iced tea
This time of year dusty Kansans like me will drive to a convenience stop, race to the dispenser and gulp a giant iced tea without asking about price or refill policy. Unlike sweet tea drinkers in the Deep South, Midwesterners prefer to sweeten their tea with a teaspoon of sugar instead of a quarter pound scoop. Lemon optional. It is the blast of cold in the belly and the thirst-quenching astringency they seek.
Tea is a beverage enjoyed by more than one half of America’s population on any given day. According to the Tea Council in 2012, Americans drank more than 3.6 billion gallons of tea – enough to fill the Empire State Building more than 13 times. Since 85% of the tea Americans drink is iced, the U.S. celebrates a love of this healthy beverage every June with National Iced Tea Month.
Lately I’ve noticed that restaurants are making a lot better tasting iced tea. Thirty years ago I shunned the movement to mask the anemic qualities of restaurant tea with raspberry and strawberry and peach flavoring. Instead I’d request a pot of hot tea with two bags and a tall glass filled to the brim with ice. I would patiently brew the tea double-strength and pour it over the ice, diluting it nicely as it chilled. The fresh brew flavor was like home but the tea bag blends were typically stale.
At home I use a full-bodied loose leaf Ceylon or a malty Assam brewed in a Takeya flash-chill pitcher of ice. No sugar needed. Sometimes I drink three quarts a day.
The other day I was dining at a highly-rated Seattle restaurant that uses the fresh-brewed, flash-chill technique and I got to gulping. “Will you bring another,” I asked the waitress… “and another”… “and another.” This was a Sri Lankan Ceylon from Barnes & Watson made like I do at home.
The guys at Wilbur Curtis noticed the trend. When I spoke to them at World Tea Expo they said restaurants are filling the company’s foodservice iced tea dispensers with several pounds of ice and then brewing the tea extra strong. The tea is then released into the ice-filled dispenser to flash chill.
In April I was interviewing Janaki Kuruppu who chairs the Sri Lanka Tea Board. The topic shifted to iced tea and she revealed a strategic effort to promote Ceylon as an iced tea supplier in the foodservice segment. I assured her Americans are ready for a full-bodied, brisk flavored single-origin thirst quencher.
Blood Orange Sorbet Oolong Iced Tea
Iced Tea Tuesday
Teavana stores nationwide in the U.S. and Canada will offer one free small serving of brewed Raspberry Limeade Iced Tea to each customer who makes a purchase in a Teavana store or Teavana Fine Teas + Tea Bar. The new Raspberry Limeade Tea, available in Teavana stores today, is Teavana’s unique take on the summer favorite of raspberry limeade.
The company debuted a “Shake it Up” commercial in several markets to promote it summer teas. The ad depicts several baristas agitating colorful flash-chill pitchers of iced tea. Teavana recently released four new iced tea blends including a Blood Orange Sorbet Oolong,
Teavana is also inviting customers to digitally “toast” on National Iced Tea Day, June 10, and throughout June, by posting #IcedTeavanaSweeps photos that show how and where they are raising a glass to summer. For the chance to win a $500 Teavana “Upgrade Your Iced Tea” shopping spree, tea lovers across the U.S. will be encouraged to use the hashtag #IcedTeavanaSweeps and do one of the following*:
Forbes last week published an article on renewed efforts by Nestle Waters to revitalize its Nestea brand. Two years ago the company invested in Sweet Leaf Tea and Tradewinds bottled tea. The Nestea brand was once the king of the cooler until Lipton and Arizona seized the shelf space in most convenience outlets.
Nestea’s Rick Tanner, vp of marketing for Nestle Waters, told Forbes that the worldwide restructuring with Coca-Cola allocated Nestea to his portfolio: “We think Nestea is going to be the big driver. It’s got 95% awareness but little consideration,” he said.
“Arizona really redefined the category about 12 years ago and caught Lipton and Nestea sleeping,” said Tanner.
The company is releasing a new TV commercial updating the familiar “Take the Nestea Plunge” slogan.
“We expect to do a lot in the space of digital engagement around the plunge and work with key partners such as Facebook, Google and a few others to leverage the Nestle global partnerships we have in the digital and social media space,” he said.
World Tea Expo
The Long Beach location was great and World Tea Expo once again demonstrated the collegial affability of global tea. Attendance was 4,600 with tea lovers from 50 countries in the aisles and about 200 exhibitors on the floor.
The program was enriching with returning favorites including Jane Pettigrew, Thomas Shu and James Norwood Pratt, Bruce Richardson, Anupa Mueller, David Walker, Rona Tison and Dan Robertson with lots of new ideas from speakers including Peter Marino, Shabnam Weber, David De Candia, Emeric Harney, Elyse Petersen, Naomi Rosen, Robert Wemischner and James Oliveira.
Download the sessions on tea marketing with David Sprinkle (Packaged Facts), Lynn Dornblaser (Mintel International) and Jonas Feliciano (Euromonitor International) along with the Health Beverage overview by National Marketing Institute’s Steve French.
Cha Jing Lifetime Achievement Award
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Specialty tea import pioneer Devan Shah basked in the warmth of praise and standing applause of his peers at a black-tie ceremony on board the Queen Mary, tearful in gratitude before family and friends.
Devan Shah
In accepting the Cha Jing Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 World Tea Expo, Shah spoke of his heritage in the tea lands of India and the remarkable opportunity America presented 25 years ago on the founding of International Tea Importers (ITI).
His lifetime commitment to tea education and innovation was detailed by author James Norwood Pratt who cited the creation of the Chado Tea Rooms, the Los Angeles International Tea Festival and that fact that Shah was perhaps America’s most influential champion of chai. “Everyone knows black tea is the most popular tea here and that green tea is second, but few recognize that it is Devan who made chai the third most popular tea in America,” said Pratt.
As emcee George Jage, Founder & Director of The Beverage Group @ F+W Media, Inc., said “Devan helped spearhead America’s tea renaissance.”
Shah has financed books, sponsored seminars and exhibitions, given talks and presentations and hosted countless tea samplings at events that led others to the discovery of fine tea.
“Shah has extended his love of tea to thousands,” said Jage, who presented the crystal trophy.
Against life-size images of his activities projected on the big screen in the stately Queen Mary Salon, Shah humbly thanked the crowd, his daughter and immediate family and the many relatives who traveled from his beloved Nilgiris to attend the banquet.
“Tea, the most romantic of all beverages, has certainly come a long way in the United States,” said Shah. “It has seen steady growth year-over-year for the last 15 years, and I am proud to be a part of that growth, and I am very grateful for this honor.”
The Cha Jing Lifetime Achievement Award (#ChaJingAward) recognizes and celebrates individuals who have made considerable contributions to the growth, innovation and education of the specialty tea industry throughout their lifetime.
Shah received toasts well into the night in the celebration that followed on the observation deck of the historic ship.
World Tea Award Winners
Ten presentations preceded the awarding of this year’s Cha Jing recognition in categories that follow. George Jage and Gail Gastelu, publisher of the The Tea House Times introduced winners following a tally of several thousand online ballots by attendees.
“Collectively, you are all winners,” said Gastelu, “But, tonight we honor and further recognize our peers who have risen to the top to help raise us all a little higher.”
Winners include:
Best Tea Spirit: James Norwood Pratt, tea author and expert, San Francisco, Calif.
Best Tea Educator: Jane Pettigrew, tea author and consultant – United Kingdom
Tea as an Ingredient – “Ladalu Chakra” (Lumbini Tea Factory Sri Lanka)
Tea Ware – “Deluxe Iced Tea Beverage System” (Takeya USA)
Open Class – “Tea Pee – Prostate Support Tea”(Nuwati Herbals)
India Tea Production Tally
NEW DELHI, India – Final figures for the 2013 harvest reveal an increase of 6.19% to 1.205 billion kilograms, up from the 1.135 billion harvested in 2012.
The India Tea Board reports combined output of Assam and West Bengal and other north Indian states increased 7.56% to 960.96 million kg. The two states grow almost 80 percent of India’s tea. Production in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka rose to 244.44 million kg last year, up slightly from 241.69 million kg produced in 2012.
Here is the Tea Association of USA’s iced tea recipe:
Drink it by the pitcher. Since tea contains no sodium, fat, carbonation, or sugar, it is virtually calorie free. To top it off, there are decades’ worth of research showing that the many bioactive compounds found in tea, called flavonoids, may contribute to overall health.
Bring one quart of fresh, cold, filtered water to a full boil in a teapot
Remove from heat and add 8–10 tea bags per quart of tea you are making
Steep for three to five minutes and pour over ice cubes or into additional cold water
To serve, pour into tall glass filled with ice, garnish and sweeten as desired
*Note:This recipe uses 50 percent more tea than is used to make hot tea to allow for dilution by ice.
Whether you prefer black, green, white or oolong tea, you are in good company. Peter Goggi, President of the Tea Council of the USA recommends drinking plenty of tea, saying, “not only are many different types of teas available to suit each taste preference, but the amount of quality research being done on tea continues to support the idea that drinking tea can be a fulfilling, healthy addition to your diet.”
Tea Biz serves a core audience of beverage professionals in the belief that insightful journalism informs business decision-making. Tea Biz reports what matters along the entire supply chain, emphasizing trustworthy sources and sound market research while discarding fluff and ignoring puffery.
Tea Biz posts are available to use in your company newsletter or website. Purchase reprint and distribution rights for single articles or commission original content. Click here for details.
Perched in a tree jutting from a cliff hundreds of feet above fast-moving Mountain Home Creek I would have welcomed a calming cup of tea.
SAN GORGONIO WILDERNESS, Calif. – A few miles from Angeles Oaks Calif., there is a trailhead on Hwy. 38 leading to Mountain Home Flats, an early settler’s homestead located in the San Gorgonio Wilderness of San Bernardino County.
San Bernardino Mountain rises 10,649 ft., high above the flats which are about 7,800 ft. up the north side of the mountain. Below is the East Fork of Mountain Home Creek. There is a waterfall a short distance from the fire circle and spectacular vistas. On a clear day from the peak looking East you can see the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains and from the West face the azure Pacific.
Calling this area “flat” is a misstatement. The difficult vertical climb rises more than 4,600 ft. in a distance of 16.5 miles from the village of Angeles Oaks. The 60-mile range, formed 11 million years ago by the San Andreas Fault, boasts the highest mountain in Southern California (San Gorgonio Mountain at 11,499 ft.).
My companions Sarah Baisley and Chris Harz and their two big white German shepherds, joined me on the hike, returning to a trail we had last walked a dozen years ago.
Adventures have happy endings – mishaps, not so much. In this tale my survival was 5 parts luck and 10 parts scouting and firefighting experience. I’m happy I could write the ending.
We set out early May 26, arriving at the trailhead before noon. The hike to our base camp was much more difficult than in past years due to fallen timber. Giant Coulter, Jeffery and Ponderosa Pines dominate this region. These gray-green trees grow to 80 feet tall. Some blocking the trail were four foot in diameter. The pine cone of the Coulter weighs as much as 12 pounds and measure 18 inches. Foresters call them “widowmakers.”
Manzanita lined canyons are spectacular but steep.
The temperature was in the 80s. I had last hiked the trail in 2002 and not many had walked it since. At one point I led the group up a steep incline only to retreat. My friend Patrick Graham and his son were ahead of us, returning from their early-morning trail blazing efforts. They saw us and put us on the right path.
Graham said the trail ahead was “bad, very bad.”
As early evening approached we set up a base camp on a ridge opposite Mountain Home Flats high above the creek. Everyone was thirsty, including the dogs, so I set out with Sarah for water. Ahead was a narrow ledge and a stretch of along the face of the cliff that my daughter Tessa calls the “goat trail above the abyss.”
The trail from the ridge was in bad repair. I decided to rig safety line. It took an hour to secure the line, inching along the rock face as scree tumbled below. It was another hour to descend to Mountain Home Creek. California was undergoing its worst drought in a century but there was good flow in the creek. I used the Katadyn filter to insure the water was safe. Eight canteens and water bottles later, when I started back from the creek it was nearly dark. At the foot of the ridge stumbled. While I knew the trail quite well, the climb had been much more tiring than I remember. My headlamp cast uncertain light and I began to slip and fall every 10 yards, cutting and scraping my calves until they bled.
It was then I realized I would have to spend an uncomfortable night under a tree. Carrying a pack of water in the dark along the face of a cliff seemed too risky. I bed down on pine boughs near a big log.
Deciding to spend a 60-degree night under the stars saved my life.
I did not know it at the time, but Sarah had already fallen down the scree while returning to base camp. See too was forced to spend the night hugging a Manzanita bush, exposed to the night air.
AR 306, a Bell UH-1H, lifts Dan upside down from the cliff.
At dawn as soon as I could see the trail I set out. I was returning with gallons of water in my pack, facing the cliff, inching my way along when suddenly the narrow ledge gave way. I had looped the safety line around my right hand as I progressed and now found myself suspended about 20 feet below the ledge by that hand… boy did that hurt…. my fingers quickly turned purple under my 350 pound weight but I was able to hang there long enough to kick into the crumbling rock with my left boot. In time I had a rock climbers three-point hand and foot hold.
I let go of the line. My right hand was swollen, numb and useless. I steadied myself with my left and crab walked across the face of the cliff. I was 60 feet below the ledge. I could not see how far it was to the sloping scree and safety far to my left. I knew it would be a long stretch of sheer, near vertical rock to cross. I started out, kicking toe holds with my steel-toe boots as I made my way.
Progress was slow. I had moved about 20 feet across the face of the rock when I noticed a dark shadow to my left. It was from a tree anchored below me. I was tiring. I looked down. The 400 fall would send me into the sharp sloping rocks. Without a climbing helmet I would then likely tumble unconscious into the fast-moving creek below.
You can imagine how happy I was to see that shadow led to a a wiry little tree. It was a broad leaf with smooth bark and a trunk diameter between six and eight inches. I maneuvered above it, slid face first slowly down the rock and straddled it between my legs with my back to the cliff. I rested a while, wrapped my hand and took stock of the situation. Secure from a fall I started with an inventory. My glasses and hearing aids were still in place. In my fanny pack I had a radio and water, a flashlight and a Leatherman tool, a bandanna, compass and hat. My walking stick had fallen within arm’s reach.
Chris Harz awoke that morning counting on me to help pull Sarah out of her predicament.
Earlier I had waved and greeted him at a distance before setting off along the ledge and he acknowledged with a shout. Now I was doing the shouting, explaining that I had fallen and needed a chopper.
Chris had tried the cell phones but without service he knew he would have to walk down the mountain to ring 911. He had one AT&T and one phone on the Verizon network. He got a Verizon signal around 9:30 a.m. I had fallen around 6:30 a.m. Sarah had slipped in the scree about 8 p.m. the previous night and could not regain her footing, landing in a Manzanita but safe.
“Even if one of you had gotten to me with a rope, I was too weak from straining to stay awake and lodged in that spot all night without water. I no longer had the muscle energy,” she said later.
Sarah Baisley and Dan Bolton return to base camp.
The rescue chopper, based in Apple Valley, Calif., responded immediately to the call. A sheriff’s deputy met Chris at the trailhead and he rode with them to the fire station where he pointed to our location on the map. In these circumstances San Bernardino County Sheriff’s dispatch two choppers, the first to identify the victim’s location and a second, heavier ship, to perform the air rescue. Deputy Doug Brimmer piloted the craft. He and Flight Officer Deputy Ryan Peppler were first to arrive in 40King6, a 2006 Eurocopter that scanned the canyon for almost an hour flying occasionally overhead.
They could not locate us easily in the brush, making many passes along the canyon in full view but too distant to signal. The pilot then asked via bull horn for us to wave something white. Sarah cleverly and enthusiastically waved her bra. I tied my bandanna to the walking stick and waved.
Once we were spotted, Deputy Brimmer radioed for Air Rescue 306, a Bell UH-1H chopper piloted by Deputy Dave Borgerd with Crew Chief Deputy John Scalise. On board were Fire Captain S. Simpson and Firefighter/Paramedic Eric Sherwin.
Sherwin was lowered and quickly extracted Sarah.
After they had carried Sarah to safety Sherwin walked to the spot above the tree when I sat and lowered a harness using the ropes I had rigged. I then scaled the distance I had fallen unassisted, finding a footing on the ridge.
Once I reached the ledge Sherwin brought the chopper in close and buckled the lifting hook into my waist harness. I was safely attached to the chopper and he was attempting to fasten a chest harness when the chopper suddenly rose a few feet, pulling me out of his reach and leaving me to ascend head down. I remember focusing on my boots as they hoisted me feet first. At first the rotors seemed a long way from those boots. The winch is mounted in the roof of the chopper and I recall thinking that suddenly those rotors were very, very close to my boots. They bent me in half and pulled me in feet first. The trip to Angeles Oaks took only a few minutes.
A KABC TV 7 reporter interviewed me on landing, the medics gave me a once over. I presented the containers of water to Sarah and got a big hug. The newspaper where I worked in the 1990s, the Riverside Press-Enterprise, ran a brief written by a reporter and friend of mine who coincidentally attended my 60th birthday party the previous Saturday. He didn’t know it was me.
It was about 5.5 hours after I fell before I landed.
Dan describes the fall.
We rested at the Oaks Restaurant across from the fire station. The accompanying photo is me explaining the fall. As we walked into the restaurant the waitress said, “aren’t you the guy on TV we just watched them haul into the helicopter?”
“Yup. Burger and MGD please,” I replied.
That would have been the end of it except that all of our gear and my wallet, ID and passport were still on the mountain. One backpack had meat for dinner in bear country so we decided to climb right back up the mountain, spent an exhausted night and then climbed back down the next morning.
The second group of photos show Chris, Sarah and I celebrating the return to base camp with a box of wine.
Base camp with Chris Harz.
The campsite was a favorite of my now-grown children. I had ascended the mountain to bury a time capsule with items for my grandchildren (my first grandchild, Lux Alexander, was born to my son Patrick on Saturday, May 24, a couple of days before the hike).
The stainless thermos time capsule contains a computer SD chip with 592 ancestors in the family tree; a few trinkets prized by my two sons and daughter along with coins from 19 countries. A note encourages “the grandchildren whom I know and those I have yet to meet” to pick a coin and travel there as “adventure has so enriched my life.”
All is well… I live to write another tale. The TV reporter asked my advice for others: “Be Prepared” I said, recalling the Scout motto that served me well. The water filter and radio, the bandanna, the compass and knife all contributed to my return. Taking the time to rig that safety line made all the difference.
Hanging up there for several hours with a spectacular view I realized that if it turned out badly it would be a sad, but fitting end.
Propped against the cliff, hand throbbing, bloody legs straddling that tough little tree I sipped the cool mountain water that I had gathered, second-guessed some of my decisions and wondered when they would find me; why they didn’t answer my radio distress calls; how long the tree would continue to hold. I sat there examining one by one, the many facets of fear… calmly and without regret.
Dan is an Eagle Scout and former firefighter credited with saving the lives of others. He is very grateful to the San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies piloting the aircraft and the firefighters on board who saved his life.
TEAM UP is an annual gathering of tea professionals hosted by the Ethical Tea Partnership and IDH The Sustainable Trade Initiative in a coalition that includes OXFAM and the German Development Agency GIZ.
It was thought the combined marketing efforts of the global beverage giants would make Nestea a success in competition with China’s Master Kong and Taiwan’s Uni-President brands.
You select your location. Select your drink and present your phone to the cashier. The cashier enters a payment confirmation code.
