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Mission Puzzle
You are required to find the best solution to the situation described below, you should allow yourself 30 to 45 minutes after you have read through it once.
Background
3 colleagues and yourself have flown out to Canada to undertake some serious climbing on cliffs surrounding a remote hanging valley, set in fantastic backwoods with a number of new routes. The water from the hanging valley is a main feeding source for a city 200 miles south with 1.5 million residents and access is limited to licensed parties. Your team, made up of a medic, a top class lead climber, an ex-services team leader and you, are all experienced climbers, and received your license for 10 days in the area starting tomorrow.
Your pre-start base is established at Bighorn, a Town on the west coast of a large lake, which is serviced by 2 daily trains that can be irregular if the weather conditions become seriously inclement. However, the station has sidings and an emergency train, with a snowplough, that can be put into service within 60 minutes and always gets through to the tunnel, with the emergency phone, 42 miles away, in 4 hours and 12 minutes, travelling at a constant speed throughout the climb.
There are 4 routes in to the climbing area you are going to. The first is by long scenic trek, initially going west, then north, skirting around the 4 -6,000 meter peaks and travelling through low saddles that can become blocked by snow drifts, and finally east, running parallel to the rail line to a point where both route 1 and 2 meet and continue east as below. The total distance to where it joins the second route, which is also the train drop off point, is 29.5 miles, either on foot or by train although they follow different routes.
The second route is by launch, to a landing station 8.25 miles north up the coast, then by a 7 mile track going west to the rail line, where the track goes south running parallel to the rail line and finally after 12.33 miles, to a point where it meets route 1, then going east into the climbing base areas approximately 6 to 8 miles in.
This final section travels initially through dangerous bogs using low bridges every half-mile for the first 3 miles, with 7 bridges including one at each end, starting 100 meters from the train drop-off point. These regularly flood, as the entire bog area does, at an equal rate, but are passable whilst the water levels remain below 1 meter in depth above the crossing platforms. After this the route rises gentle to a height of 400 meters and throughout offers level open field sites up to 6 to 8 miles in, although this is bear country, no attacks have been reported.
The boat trip is expensive, takes about 2 hours, and it is possible to walk along the shoreline, however, there are two rock outcrops, which are impassable for 2 hours, each side of high tide, at 1 miles and 3 miles north of Bighorn respectively and progress on the foreshore is only at 3 miles per hour. Unfortunately it is not possible to gain access directly from the shoreline to the hanging valley because of very dangerous cliffs and one attempt to descend down one of the outcrops ended in two fatalities. Occasionally, there is a boat moored overnight at the landing point, otherwise the first boat calls in at 07:00 some carry radio communications.
The third route in is by helicopter that passes daily, travelling to a toxic waste site 200 miles North. It has been successfully used in good weather conditions for the past 18 months by climbing parties for days out in the hanging valley, being picked up on its return some 8 hours later. It is a low cost option as it is part of a scheduled flight. Flying time is only 30 minutes, however, if the weather is other than clear it is not suitable flying into the hanging valley because of crosswinds and chances of lightening strike.
The final route is by twice-weekly drop off from the regular train, which takes approximately 3 hours to the point where route 1 and 2 meets by the railway line.
You have opted to take the helicopter, for a one-day reconnaissance prior to using the train, which goes the following day, to the drop off point, from where you intend to walk in and establish a one week base camp on the other side of the bogs, some 6 miles further east south east.
Current situation
You are en-route by helicopter to your drop-off point and 5 minutes into the hanging valley when a strong cross wind and lightening strike cause the engine to stall and the aircraft starts descending rapidly, performing something called auto-rotate. 1 minute later you crash land into a rocky outcrop and become stationary 50 meters out on a level grass patch.
An immediate inspection tells you the pilot is badly injured lapsing in and out of consciousness, he tells you to inspect the cargo, which is leaking in its internal casing and you establish that it is toxic waste which will burn through the outer casing in 24 hours and pollute the area, water source and could be potentially fatal to anyone remaining within 3 miles, not protected, within 12 hours. It needs a biohazard team, which can be called in using specialized helicopters in daylight, within 3 hours, by the radio station at Bighorn, but can be weather dependent. Alternatively, the local fire service has the equipment at Bighorn to mount a bog crossing biohazard solution from the train drop off point, but has no helicopter. Either team can render the site safe in 15 minutes and have the ability to travel across ground at the same rates as you irrespective of water heights or weather conditions.
There appear to be no workable radio communications, no mayday was sent and the flight will not be report as missing for 6-8 hours. Of the rest of your team the medic who is a diabetic has forgotten his medication and may start passing out in 18 hours without medication and could go into coma in 24 hours. Your ex-services team leader has injured his back and can hardly stand up. The top class lead climber and you are shaken, but other wise uninjured.
Having moved each person 200 meters to a safe location administered what first aid possible and established some shelter you look at the map and the weather conditions, which are now an intense electrical storm with attendant heavy rain and establish the following facts.
- You
are approximately 4 miles from the west coast shoreline where the
emergency descendent had resulted in two fatalities and 3.5 miles
east from the first bridge back across the moor towards the train
drop off point.
- Travelling
without the injured people will allow you to move at 3 miles an hour,
with them will reduce your speed by half. In addition moving at night
reduces your speed by 50%. However, on route 2 from the landing point
to where it joins route 1 you can move at 4 miles an hour.
- There
is an emergency phone to Bighorn at the start of the tunnel 5 miles
north from the point where route 2 turns south, however, it is regularly
out of service.
- The
scenic route in is, known to be, prowled at night by scavenger bears,
which can normally be chased off.
- The
current weather means no helicopter flights will be able to get in
and the water is rising across the bridged bog area equally by 30
cm an hour, if it continues non-stop it normally tops out at 1.5
meters above the bridge crossing platforms. As there has been no
rain for the past week you can safely assume that the current level
is 30 cm below the bridge crossing platforms.
- High
tide is at midnight and when you finish your plan it is 10:30 with
last light at 18:30 and first light at 06:30 .
- You
have a full range of climbing equipment including abseiling ropes
and 24 hours of food and there is a life raft on the helicopter.
- Safety rules dictate that you must move in groups of a minimum of 2, unless carrying the injured when you move as a whole team.
Design a best total solution and compare it to ours on the 30th June 2004 , when a new logic Mental Teaser will be issued. If you need an earlier answer or help email: enquiries@potentialplus.net
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