Saturday 8 January 2000 – Combat Rock – Direct response page at 15:57 to assist Loveland Fire Rescue with evacuation of an injured climber at Combat Rock. The 11 LCSAR members responding were stood down while enroute, at 16:31, as Loveland had sufficient personnel on scene. A few members did arrive soon enough to assist LFR with the last segment of the carryout.
Wednesday 12 January 2000 – Hwy 287, 2 miles south of WY – Direct response page at 05:51 for an MVA, with the vehicle down a 100 foot ravine. Road conditions were icy due to a light snowfall. 16 LCSAR and three LCSO-ES personnel responded. LCSAR’s response was stood down at 06:33 when on-scene EMS personnel determined the subject was deceased, and no additional resources were needed.
Sunday 6 February 2000 – Greyrock – Paged at 19:38 to search for an overdue hiker in the Greyrock area. Stood down at 20:06 when LCSO was notified that the hiker was OK and had rejoined his group.
Tuesday 22 February 2000 – Lory State Park – Direct response page at 13:44 for evacuation of an injured 69 year old female horserider at the equestrian area of Lory State Park. The subject and two companion riders were attempting to cross a steep, muddy creek bank. The subject’s horse slipped, it’s hind legs gave out, and it fell. Witnesses reported that the horse landed on the subject. 14 LCSAR members responding were stood down while enroute, at 14:11. Lory Park rangers were able to drive their 4WD vehicle to the scene, and assist PFA and PVH ambulance personnel to bring the subject to the ambulance.
Sunday 27 February 2000 – Round Mountain – Direct response page at 16:57 to assist Loveland Fire Rescue with evacuation of an injured 45 year old male, about 2 miles up the trail. The subject had been hiking off-trail to check out potential hunting terrain, when he lost his footing on the gnarly terrain, and fractured his lower leg. Alone, he screamed for help, and was fortunately heard by a hiker on the trail. The hiker located the injured subject, then hiked out, going down the drainage (instead of using the trail), and came out near Cedar Cove, from where he called 911. This led to some initial confusion about the location of the injured subject. It was after sunset when Loveland Fire Rescue personnel and the first-arriving LCSAR members hiked up the drainage with the RP to attempt to locate the scene. Meanwhile, other LCSAR personnel began hiking up Round Mountain trail, also trying to locate the injured person. Ultimately, about 1¾ hours later, he was found by verbal attraction methods. TVAS and LFR personnel treated the subject’s injuries, while LCSAR personnel set up the technical evacuation systems, angling and side-hilling up the draw to the trail. The terrain in the draw was extremely treacherous, such that it took about 4 hours to move the ¼ mile up to the trail. By then, additional LCSAR members were on scene to relieve the very tired personnel for the 1½ mile trail carry. The subject was delivered to the waiting TVAS ambulance at 01:30 next morning. A total of 25 LCSAR members, and 20 personnel from other agencies, ultimately responded.
Sunday 27 February 2000 – Poudre Canyon MM115 – Direct response page at 17:59, while we were in the midst of the mission described above, to assist Poudre Canyon QRT with evacuation of a 65 year old female from an MVA down an embankment, about 2 miles east of Poudre Park. Ultimately, 14 LCSAR members were responding from other areas of the county, including some from the Round Mountain incident, only to be stood down at 18:21, as Poudre QRT personnel were able to extricate her and get her to the waiting PVH ambulance. Many of these LCSAR responders then went to assist with the trail carry at the Round Mountain incident.
Sunday 5 March 2000 – Johnson’s Corner area – Paged at 08:03 to assist law enforcement and ambulance personnel on scene at an MVA on I-25 near Johnson’s Corner, to look for a 28 year old male, possibly injured, who had wandered away from the scene of the rollover MVA, which had occurred at about 03:00 that morning. Six LCSAR members with three dogs responded, and were just beginning the search when LCSO ES received word that the subject had been located. As it turns out, the subject had walked to, and fallen asleep in, a farm house about 2½ miles south. While LCSAR was responding, the subject had awakened, and called his roommate, who drove out, picked up his friend, and began to drive to the hospital. Moments later, LCSO personnel intercepted the vehicle, and transferred the subject to the care of TVAS ambulance personnel, and subsequent trip to McKee Hospital for observation. He was released from the hospital later that day, and has no recollection of the accident. His mother was very appreciative that the Team had responded to help locate her son.
Monday 6 March 2000 – Masonville area – The start of a multi-day, intermittent (due to weather complications) search assist to law enforcement, for a 56 year old male, despondent over loss of his job and financial problems, who allegedly set fire to buildings on his property, then disappeared into the surrounding forest. Three air scent dog teams (experienced with law enforcement assists), each with an armed deputy, worked high probability areas, including checking locations identified by FLIR overflights earlier, and other locations were the subject was known to have visited. LCSO Posse members on horseback searched along roads and trails, and were available as backup to the dog teams. Few clues have been found, and the incident is still under investigation.
Wednesday 19 April 2000 – Crystal Mountain – Paged at 07:56 for a direct response to the top of Crystal Mountain. A group of seven people (5 male, 2 female, mid-teens to early twenties) were four-wheeling in one pickup truck in the Crystal Mountain area on Tuesday when they became stuck in a snow drift. They were due back at approximately 18:00, and spent the evening calling friends, none of whom were able to come to their aid. No one reported any members of the group missing during the night. All seven people had ridden up in the one truck, many of them in the back. There was no camper shell, so they were exposed to the below freezing temperatures during their night on the mountain. They were not dressed appropriately for nighttime or inclement weather and had no survival gear. Wednesday morning they called 911 for help. The phone went dead while they were talking to dispatch, but fortunately they were able to give their location before the battery died. The initial report was received as one person having frostbite and another having a severe asthma attack. There was some initial confusion as to the subjects actual location, so LCSAR called for more resources and briefly initiated a hasty search. LCSO-ES, LCSAR [13 members with 3 dogs], Rist Canyon QRT and the Forest Service responded, and were able to drive to within about a half mile of the subjects, [though one jeep was able to drive up to the site], arriving at about 10:20 after the short hike. Attempts to get the truck un-stuck failed. The medical conditions of the individuals were determined to be non-life threatening, so all but one of the subjects walked out with Team members to the vehicle staging area. The one female complaining of asthma was transported in the jeep to Rist Canyon QRT's ambulance, then to Poudre Valley Hospital for evaluation.
Friday 21
April 2000 – Mount Evans –
George Janson, as the on-duty CSRB coordinator, at 08:50 paged SARDOC for
dog resources to search for a 28 year old female and her dog missing in the
Mount Evans area. The subject had not
arrived Thursday at a remote campsite for her weekend assignment with the
"Hoods in the Woods" program.
She had been into the area three times in the last six months and was
felt to be well equipped. Alpine Rescue
Team members and dogs had been searching throughout the night, and now needed
replacement resources. One LCSAR dog
team, Jayne Zmijewski with Miriah,
and John Shivik, were available and would be responding when Jayne drove back
from Cheyenne. As the morning
progressed, it became obvious that search resources from the closest SAR teams
would be slim, so George tasked LCSAR for searchers. Shortly after the initial page at 10:36, the subject was reported
safe at the Mt. Evans Ranch and all resources were stood down. From Julie Cotton, this postscript: Darren
and I were "in the area" giving a PSAR to some Jefferson School kids
at the outdoor lab school near Bailey.
Too bad we weren't at the Mt. Evans lab school which is the same
driveway as the ranch!! Would have been
available if we had known what was happening.
We got one garbled page. All of
the radio traffic we heard while going down to the presentation had actually
led us to believe RMRG was having a mission, as they were the only people we
heard on the radio, even as we got closer to Mt. Evans. Figures.
We are in the area but don't have a clue that we are wanted. :-)
Friday 28 April 2000 – Pineridge Open Space (near Hughes Stadium) – Direct response page at 14:03 to stage at Pineridge Open Space for possible search and/or rescue. The caller reported hearing a female yelling that she had fallen, but was unable to determine the direction that the cries originated. LCSAR response was stood down at 14:34, after Bob Root, the on-duty ES Specialist, arrived and determined that no emergency existed. It appears the caller overheard a distant person having a shouting ‘discussion’ with the Park Ranger, which was garbled at the callers location by the distance.
Sunday 30 April 2000 – Horsetooth Reservoir canal – Paged at 09:44 for water dogs to assist LCDR with search for a 49 year old female, last seen on Friday around noon. She and her husband had an argument. On Sunday, a canal driver found the car hanging over the canal with the driver's side door open. Julie Cotton with Zephyr, and Bill Cotton responded. Zephyr verified there was no trail leaving the car and he had interest in the canal. The water was too fast to search, so the dogs were going to be used the following day. Additional resources were stood down at 20:45, as LCDR personnel had located the body against a railroad trestle. Her body had gone three miles down the canal and two miles down the Poudre river. Apparently she had driven her car off over the edge of the canal while backing up on a narrow dead-end road. Her dog was also gone from the car.
Thursday 4 May 2000 – Comanche Peak – Request from RMNP for one member to assist on Friday with recovery
of remains and personal effects at the Piper Aerostar crash site. Dave Hake joined a team of three Park
Rangers, the LCSO Coroner, and the NTSB Investigator who were flown to the top
of Comanche Peak for a long day of recovery work. Dave has photographs of this crash site, tactfully composed – the
NPS, NTSB and Coroner’s photographs are more graphic. This twin-engine aircraft disintegrated upon impact of about 200
mph on the 12,100 foot elevation of the southwest face of the 12,700 foot peak,
smearing itself upward through a large rocky boulder field, with one engine
clearing the ridge to land ¼ mile from the impact point. Fortunately, the weather was clear, cool and
calm, enabling this multi-jurisdictional team to complete it’s task, despite
having to med-evac one of their group.
The NTSB Investigator stumbled and fell, dislocating his hip, and was
airlifted by a Flight for Life helicopter from Denver. And now, the rest of the story …
George Janson and Mark Sheets, in their alter-ego personae as
Civil Air Patrol members, participated earlier in the week in the search for
this Piper Aerostar. The aircraft, with
Rob and Terri Donoho of
Fort Collins, had departed Page, AZ at 10:30 on Sunday 30 April
for the 2-hour flight to Loveland-Fort Collins Airport. Their only radio contact was with Flight
Service at Walker Field in Grand Junction at 11:19, asking about weather
conditions to Fort Collins and Cheyenne.
The pilot did not file a flight
plan, and there were no distress signals heard from the Emergency
Locator Transmitter (ELT). Civil Air
Patrol initiated the search effort on Monday morning, after family members
reported them overdue. Mark interviewed
the daughter, who lives in Ft Collins, later that day. The pilot’s usual route (they had flown this
route dozens of times over the past few years) was direct from Page to Fort
Collins, passing over the northern region of RMNP. Radar plots from the FAA’s National Track Analysis Program (NTAP)
indicated the plane dropped from radar contact over North Park, which in itself
is not unusual, due to spotty coverage caused by the continental divide. Continual analysis of this data eventually
located the last radar hit just SW of Comanche Peak, flying at 12,100 feet
directly toward the 12,700 foot mountain.
Ultimately, 12 Colorado CAP aircraft, five from Wyoming, a helicopter
from RMNP and a National Guard helicopter flew a combined many hundreds of
hours before locating the wreckage.
George spent Wednesday and Thursday of that week assisting ground and
air operations at the Incident Command Post at Jeffco Airport. On Thursday, we were joined by RMNP liaison
Doug Ridley. On Wednesday, Mark was
tasked to drive to the top of Trail Ridge Road to do an electronic search (no
signal heard) for the ELT, and was escorted by Ranger Jim Detterline, as the
road was still closed to the public.
Additionally, LCSO deputy Earl Fawcett hiked into the search area
Thursday to investigate an oil slick reported by a local rancher on
Wednesday. By Thursday, no oil was visible
in the mountain stream. George
contacted Diamond Peaks Patrol, to talk with any of their members who might
have been in the area that day, but none of their members were up there on
Sunday. George did talk with
snowmobilers who called in response to media requests for anyone in the area
that day to call the ICP. They were on
the Agnes Lake trail on Sunday, and gave valuable information about the weather
that day, and that they did hear aircraft.
For the command staff, it was very helpful to have a liaison familiar
with Larimer County. The wreckage was
spotted just before 18:00 Thursday evening by a Colorado Army National Guard
helicopter, on their third pass over the mountain. They flew the last known course at 30 knots, and when they were
about 50 feet above the rocky area, they saw birds take flight and saw a red
object flapping around from their rotor wash.
Only after hovering for several minutes were they finally able to
discern bits of wreckage. They landed
at the saddle, inspected the site and determined it was the aircraft for which
we were searching. Upon review of all
the debriefing forms, we of the command staff determined that eight sorties had
been flown over Comanche Peak, five fixed wing and three helicopter, during the
four days of the search. When one views
the photographs, it is difficult to see wreckage, even knowing where it is in
the images. As one of CAP’s pilots said
of one of his photos: “By the way, I
believe that the Guard helicopter was on the ground in the vicinity of the pile
of rocks in picture #74, but I sure can't identify it. I think it may be in the 11:30 or 12:00
position from the pile of rocks. Gives
you an idea of how tough it is to identify anything, even helicopter
sized.” When the GPS coordinates
confirmed the location inside RMNP, Doug Ridley assumed jurisdiction, and began
the process to get a recovery team assembled to visit the site on Friday. As a courtesy to LCSAR, he asked me to send
one of our mountaineering-capable members to assist, preferably someone they
knew from previous missions. Postscript
from RMNP: The wreckage is scheduled to be removed from the mountain in
mid-July, by RMNP rangers, assisted by personnel from the salvage company.
Saturday
6 May 2000 – Harmony Trailer Park – Request from Fort Collins Police
for dogs to assist with search for a missing 5 year old male, last seen at
20:00 hours earlier in the night. Julie
Cotton with Zephyr and Darren Weibler were stood down shortly after going enroute,
as the child had returned home. Apparently the child had fallen asleep somewhere outside and was
not seen while family and neighbors were looking for him.
Sunday 14 May 2000 – Horsetooth Falls – Direct response page at 15:09 to rescue a subject who had fallen from Horsetooth Falls. 28 LCSAR members responded to carry out a 27 year old male who had fallen 40 feet and sustained a compound fracture to his lower leg and heel. LCSO Emergency Services, Poudre Fire Authority, Larimer County Parks personnel and Poudre Valley Hospital paramedics also responded to the incident. The patient was carried approximately 1½ miles to the awaiting ambulance, which departed for the hospital at 17:00 hours. The subject was bouldering with friends on the rocks alongside Horsetooth Falls when he lost his footing. None of these individuals were wearing helmets, or climbing with any protective technical gear, though many people hike the rocks near Horsetooth Falls without technical gear of any kind.
Wednesday 23 May 2000 – 1313 Riverside, Fort Collins – Request at 17:22 from
FCPD for dogs to assist with search for 85-year-old partially blind male, from Cheyenne, missing
approximately 2½ hours. Subject
had wandered away while his wife was getting checked into Poudre Valley
Hospital by their son. The son had told
the Dad to wait in the car. FCPD had three canine units
enroute, but they wanted a bloodhound.
Cheryl Kennedy advised them we didn't have a bloodhound, but we did have
a trailing dog who had grown up doing trails in town as well as in the mountains. She asked if the person had alzheimers or
dementia, further advising that if the subject had alzheimers or dementia, they
likely would find him within ½ to 1½ mile radius from LSP. No non-contaminated articles were available;
however, everyone except the wife (at the hospital) was present that might have
contaminated an article. The son
advised that when his Dad had wandered away before they had found him curled up
somewhere. While Cheryl was on the
phone with sheriff's dispatch, the city dispatcher called and advised that the
subject had been found.
From Cheryl Kennedy, SARDOC Coordinator: As an FYI, Rick Mainwalt, head canine officer for FCPD, is very
aware of LCSAR and SARDOC capabilities and has been stressing in training that
they use appropriate resources. They
evidently are beginning to do so, as we have received several requests in the
last few weeks for the trailing dog.
Please keep in mind that most of the requests from them will be for
missing children and elderly persons in the city and along it’s periphery. Cheryl is working with Bob Root and Don
Griffith to develop a written protocol for FCPD utilizing our resources. We've accomplished the goal of educating
them, now they will request the services and we need to be prepared to assist
whenever possible.
Wednesday 31 May 2000 – Prospect Lake, Colorado Springs, El Paso County – CSRB request to SARDOC for water dogs to search Prospect Lake for a missing 19 year old male. Julie Cotton with Zephyr and Cheryl Kennedy with Apache responded, to be joined by an EPCSAR dog team at the scene. Subject and reporting party were going up and down the lake in the middle of the night on an inflatable raft. The wind was strong and when the subject moved in the raft to assist with paddling, the raft overturned. The subject could not swim, and neither person was wearing a PFD. Divers had searched that night and the next 2½ days before calling for dogs. There was a pretty good wind out of the SW, which made it hard to narrow down the alerts, but the alerts were consistently in the same area of the lake. Later in the evening SARDOC marked an area and suggested that if the subject was not beneath it, divers should move closer to the working shoreline, which was upwind of the marked area. The subject was found on the first pass by the divers closer to shore than the spot SARDOC marked, but within the boundary they had marked.
Saturday 3 June 2000 – Greyrock Mountain – Direct response page at 21:00 to rescue a hiker who had fallen on Greyrock Mountain. The 15 year old was among a group of nine family members hiking this popular trail. They got a late start, and during the hike became separated into small groups strung along the trail. The subject had stopped to rest, and the others moved on, leaving him alone. Thinking it would be a shortcut to rejoin his family, he had climbed up the south face of Greyrock, lost his grip and slid about 50 feet, fortunately landing on a ledge about 70 feet above ground. He was unable to move off the ledge. Well, this was the night of our BASART final, and there were few resources in town. Not knowing at the time what the injury severity and technical difficulty of the situation was, ES requested that all personnel from the BASART final respond. Ultimately, the 18 BASART candidates, and 30 Team members arrived. Just before midnight, another call came in to assist Loveland Rescue with an ATV accident; see next synopsis. All 18 BASART’s and 12 Team members were sent to assist Loveland Rescue. This left 15 Team members at the site, and two at base. In the dark, using only headlamps, on a section of Greyrock that is not normally climbed, and after several dead-end routes, the members on scene eventually found a route to lead climb to the subject’s ledge. An anchor was established, and the subject was belayed down. He was uninjured, and was able to walk back to the trailhead, accompanied by the Team members.
Saturday 3 June 2000 – Skinner Gulch – Direct response page at 23:50 to assist Loveland Fire Rescue with evacuation of a person injured in an ATV rollover accident, in Skinner Gulch near Pinewood Reservoir, above Carter Lake. 18 BASART and 12 Team members departed from the Greyrock mission described above, only to be stood down about 30 minutes later, when we received word that LFR had extricated the individual, and they were enroute to the hospital. And so the BASART candidates, rudely disrupted from their final exam scenario, were introduced to real missions, which included hurry up, then wait, then hurry up, then stand down … welcome to the real-world of SAR.
Sunday 4 June 2000 – Gravel pit west of 1505 Harris – The duty SAR Manager was paged at 14:01 to call the LC Humane Society. They needed assistance to extricate a horse stranded in the mud. 13 LCSAR members and two ES Specialists responded to a gravel pit west of 1505 Harris (which is just north of the EOC facility). The dry conditions we’ve had so far this year had lowered the water level more than usual, exposing the bottom. This bottom is composed of fine silt washed into the pit years ago when it was an active sand and gravel excavation. It is deceptively dry looking on top, but holds sufficient moisture to act like quicksand, and it does not support weight. By the time the rider realized the danger, it was too late to ride out. LCSAR and LC Humane Society officers combined efforts and extracted the horse with a 3:1 rope system. The horse was muddy, but otherwise none the worse for her ordeal.
Thursday 8 June 2000 – Fourth of July trail, Boulder County – George Janson, again in an alter-ego persona as CSRB duty coordinator, was paged at 16:18 with a request from Boulder Emergency Services for dog resources to determine the source of an odor of decay above the Fourth of July campground. This was the site of an avalanche last December which caught two hikers descending from Arapaho Peak. One of the hikers was still missing. Knowing this story, when a resident went to his summer cabin nearby and smelled an odor of decay, he reported it to the Boulder Sheriff’s Office. They searched the vicinity for a while, and were unable to detect the odor, so they decided to bring in search dogs. Due to the lateness of the day, and unfavorable wind conditions, SARDOC decided to send resources for the next morning. Julie Cotton with Zephyr responded. Zephyr did not find anything near the cabin and then searched the avalanche debris. No indications in the debris field or from the water coming out of the snowfield. Some interest in the next drainage to the east of the debris field, down lower, but nothing was located.
Two days later, on Saturday 10 June, an RMRG member went hiking in the area, specifically to keep searching for the missing person. He found the body of 23 year old Justin Colonna near some trees 1½ miles northeast, and 1200 feet uphill, from the starting point of the avalanche. The snow had just melted enough for his jacket to be showing. The body was far outside the original search area, and not in a location that would explain the odor of decay reported by the cabin owner. The coroner determined the cause of death was due to hypothermia.
Sunday 18 June 2000 – Crystal Lakes – The duty SAR Manager was paged at 12:35 to assemble resources to search for a 17 year old male with Downs Syndrome, missing from his home in the Crystal Lakes development. The stand down came at 12:48, before the ITC could page the Team. Residents had located the child, and he was OK.
Saturday 24 June 2000 – Rawah Wilderness – LCSAR was tasked to deliver an emergency message to a 17-year-old male who was with a group camping at Twin Crater Lakes in the Rawah Wilderness Area. Team members Julie Cotton with Zephyr, Darren Weibler with Ranger and Josh Brauer took up the challenge. The subject was taking blood thinner medication and his doctor had determined that he should not be taking it at altitude and under exertion. The dogs were not specifically requested or needed, but were taken along to help locate the subject in case he was camped in a well hidden location. The subject was with a group of other kids, so they were not hard to find. When the Team members arrived, the kids were having races and noisily cheering each other on.
Saturday 24 June 2000 – Greyrock Trail – The duty SAR Manager was paged at 22:20 to assemble resources to search for a 24 year old male who had separated from his hiking partner. The subject, who had been ahead of his friend on the trail, was not at the car. Emergency Services and 10 LCSAR members responded. By the time they arrived at the parking lot, the subject had been located by another hiker on the trail, who then walked with him back to the parking lot.
Sunday 25 June 2000 – residence in Loveland – LCSAR was requested by Loveland Police to assist with searching for a missing 5-year-old female. Julie Cotton with Zephyr and Darren Weibler fielded. Cheryl Kennedy and Apache were stood down en route. The child was last seen a couple of hours earlier going out the front door of her house to play. Subject's family had recently moved to the neighborhood. The subject's mother could not find her and had checked at some of the other houses. Zephyr was just starting to work from the front door when police found the girl at a house further down the block.
Wednesday 28 June 2000 – YMCA Camp, Estes Park – The duty SAR Manager was paged at 16:50 for resources to respond to the YMCA in Estes Park, to search for an 88-year-old male with dementia, last seen about noon, who could not be located on the grounds. At 17:34, the 17 responding LCSAR members, with two dogs, were stood down enroute when LCSO was notified that the subject had been found, and was OK.
Saturday 1 July 2000 – Bonner Peak Estates – Paged at 12:11 with report of three overdue children, ages 12, 12 and 9, one of whom is diabetic. 15 LCSAR members with two dogs responded, but were stood down enroute at 12:32, when the mother reported her children were safe and with family members. It seems the uncle had taken the children hiking, and neglected to inform the mother. Fortunately, the uncle had a FRS radio, which was ultimately used by the mother to confirm the location and safety of her children.
Saturday 1
July 2000 – Lumpy Ridge, RMNP –
Received request from RMNP at 21:50, for personnel to assist with scree evac
and trail carryout of an injured climber from the Lumpy Ridge area. Their rangers were with the subject, and
would soon start the vertical evac. The
subject, 26 year old Mike, and his friend Adolf, were on the Osiris Route [5.7,
5 pitches] of The Book section. With
Adolf belaying, Mike was near the top of the last pitch when he took a leader
fall of approximately 50 feet, injuring his ankle. Mike called RMNP dispatch via his cell phone at 20:45 to notify
them of his predicament. Both climbers
were wearing helmets. Nine LCSAR
personnel arrived to augment the 12 RMNP personnel for the all-night
carryout. Of note is that during their
hike in the dark to the scene, while negotiating a gnarly gulch as a possible
evac route, a trio of rescuers was stalked by a mountain lion. Their radio traffic had a certain ‘edge’ to
it . . . Historical postscript: Osiris, legendary ruler of predynastic
Egypt and god of the underworld, symbolized the creative forces of nature and
the imperishability of life. Called the
great benefactor of humanity, he brought to the people knowledge of agriculture
and civilization. The worship of Osiris
was one of the great cults of ancient Egypt.
It was because of the legend of Osiris that Egyptians believed they had
the right to be transformed and to live in the afterlife.
Sunday 2 July 2000 – Bear Lake, RMNP – Request at 19:36 from RMNP for assistance with carryout of an injured hiker from above the Bear Lake area. 14 LCSAR members responded for this lengthy carryout. By 17:03 the next day, all members were back in Fort Collins.
Saturday 8 July 2000 – Lory State Park – Direct response page at 12:39 for carryout of a 29 year old female with an injured ankle, one mile up the Arthur’s Rock trail. Two Emergency Services specialists and 27 LCSAR members arrived at the trailhead at 12:55. LCSAR used the stokes litter and wheel for the carryout, which was completed at 14:30. The subject refused transport by ambulance and was taken to PVH in a personal vehicle.
Saturday 8 July 2000 – Stratton Park, Rist Canyon – Direct response page at 19:49 for search for two missing young children. The 30 responding LCSAR members with two dogs were stood down at 20:16 when the parents reported that both children had returned home and were OK. Their young ages, impending darkness and approaching thunderstorms with lightning presented a high urgency for this incident.
Monday 17 July 2000 – Old Man Mountain, Estes Park – Direct response page at 12:38 to rescue a 16 year old male stuck in the ‘cave’ (déjà vu from 1977), a section of rocks on Old Man Mountain near Estes Park. 20 LCSAR members were assisted by 15 additional personnel from LCES, RMNP rangers, and Estes Park Fire Department. Rescue personnel were able to thread a harness around the individual and use a mechanical advantage to raise him out of the crevasse. He was slightly hypothermic and wet, but otherwise in very good condition, and was transported to Estes Park Medical Center by Paramedics.
Monday 17 July 2000 – Richmond Hill, Conifer, Jefferson County – Request at 14:34 from Alpine Rescue Team, via CSRB coordinator, for dogs and searchers to assist with search for 4 year old male, autistic, missing in the rural foothills Richmond Hill area of Jefferson County. The child had been missing for 4½ hours when dog teams were called to search. Many dog teams were sent due to rain and flash flooding conditions. LCSAR sent 10 members with five dogs, El Paso SAR sent two dog teams and Front Range Rescue Dogs sent three teams. The boy was found by an Alpine field team while these dog teams were enroute.
Saturday
22 July 2000 – Pennock Pass –
Paged at 16:33 to search for a missing camper.
Reported by Operations Section Chief Mark Sheets: The subject, Marcus, 50
year old male, left camp at
04:30 to take a short walk (15 yards) outside camp. Became disoriented and unable to locate camp. Fellow camper reported subject missing at
16:00. LCSAR members arrived at the
camp site at about 19:00, as directions given by RP and existing road network
didn’t match. Both foot teams, air
scent and trailing dog teams were used during the night. Additional response at 06:30 next day
allowed for additional containment, hasty, thorough, air scent/trailing dog
team, as well as short time frame of Fort Carson helicopter assistance followed
by Civil Air Patrol assistance when helicopter developed mechanical
problems. 16:00
on Sunday we found a glass that Marcus had left behind.
Smoke spotted around 15:30 by air scent dog team east of subject. Dog team gave bearing on smoke. CAP plane also spotted smoke. Timing of both dog team locating smoke and
fixed wing locating smoke was less than one minute apart. Trailing dog team from
El Paso County roughly ½
hour away from subject when smoke spotted.
Air scent dog team moved down drainage towards smoke and discovered
subject. Subject had located a
lightning strike, gathered embers and stoked a small fire to attract air
attention. Subject fanned flames when
he thought plane was leaving, creating a small forest fire. Subject was able to walk out. Dog team walked subject to trail for 1½ mile
trek to trailhead. Slurry bomber called
in by Emergency Services to drop 800 lbs of slurry on 30x30 fire. Fire crews also dispatched by both county
and Forest Service to the fire site.
Mission concluded towards end of second operational period, with third
operational period personnel arriving on site shortly after subject returned to
base. I was dreading a third
operational period because as you know, the longer the search runs, the larger
the area to search gets and LCSAR was getting thin on personnel. [Ultimately, 25 LCSAR members and 6 dogs,
plus six personnel and two dogs from El Paso SAR and Alpine Rescue
participated.] We did have 30 out of
county searchers and 2 dogs lined up from CSRB for operational period 4 if
needed, but was able to cancel them due to the find. The local Thompson Valley squadron (TVCS) provided the search
plane, and the Denver area Black Sheep squadron provided the ‘highbird’
communications plane. [Note: Mark
Sheets and George Janson are both members of CAP and TVCS.] The TVCS plane was piloted by mission pilot
trainee Susan, with certified mission pilot John in the other front seat, and
qualified observer Ken in the back.
Herewith, some commentary from Susan:
Ken spotted the signal fire the lost hiker made, and on the third pass
over it we spotted a mirror flash. He
did not have a mirror so what we saw was just the creekbed water, not a mirror
flash. Ground crews were quickly on the
scene. I hate to recommend starting a
fire, but without it we wouldn't have found him for a while, we were searching
a mile east (over a ridge) from where he was.
He was WAY off trail down in the bottom of a draw. We never saw the lost person, even on the last
pass over we saw the orange-shirted ground crews but never saw the hiker. He was wearing all grey/tan/khaki clothing
(no wonder we never saw him). After the
Sunday morning search chopper (which had flown right over him but hadn't seen
him) had mechanical problems and had been gone from the area for a few hours he
realized he hadn't been seen, and was on his own. He wandered down a draw looking for a way out, thinking he
wouldn't survive another night out.
About then our aircraft came on scene but was flying a mile east of him
on the other side of a ridge. Then, he
just happened on a smoldering tree root (!!! lucky !!!) and added kindling and
fanned it into flames so as to be found.
He was trying to do Indian signals with his shirt over the smoke, and
highbird did report it looked like the smoke doubled at one point. The aircrews found the smoke, the ground
teams / dog teams found the person. Ken
was the first one in our plane to see the smoke, and John gets credit for
teaching Susan his wonderful flying techniques, and how to search for a person
versus an airplane (much lower and slower for a person).
Monday 24 July 2000 – Creedmore Lakes –
Direct response page at 11:50 for extrication and carryout of a 51 year old
female who fell in among some rocks. 10
LCSAR members were assisted by personnel from LCES and Red Feather Lakes QRT to
carry the patient 300 yards to the ambulance.
Larimer County Dive Rescue and Poudre Valley Ambulance had also
responded. The patient was ultimately
flown from Crystal Lakes to Poudre Valley Hospital by Greeley Air Life
helicopter.
Monday 24 July 2000 – Glendo Reservoir, WY –
Paged at 14:26 with request from Platte County Sheriff for search dogs. Reported by Cheryl Kennedy. Two women on jet skis went back to check on
something they thought they saw in the water at the mouth of the
reservoir. Appeared to have been a male
subject (drowned). Body was sinking at
time of location by the women. Women
returned to their campsite 15 miles away at the other end of the reservoir,
reported the incident, packed and returned to Colorado. Sheriff requested dog team assistance based
on women's detailed description and severely distraught manner. Two Larimer water search dogs responded that
evening, working until 23:30. Both dogs
worked the shoreline and the water with strong indications from the dogs that
the subject was on the inside curve of the Platte River as it rounds a tight
bend and heads into the flood plain, east of I-25. Dogs unable to pinpoint exact location due to dropping water
levels in the reservoir (dropping six feet a day) and significant currents and
eddies in the immediate zone. One dog
team returned to Fort Collins with the other team remaining and working a
second day. This dog team returned to
Fort Collins the following evening without the body being recovered. Additionally, dog teams returned the
following Friday through Sunday, 28th to 30th, for
further follow up. Glendo Reservoir was
being emptied into downstream reservoirs, with water depth significantly
lowering throughout the week, allowing for visual checks of flood plain not
available on first weekend.
Investigated animal carcass appearing in flood plain with no indications
from dogs on carcass. Depth of water in
channel during first weekend was approximately 24 feet. Depth during second weekend was 7-10 feet in
the channel, with three feet of active sediment churning in the channel, and
when water was disturbed in any way.
Dog teams were able to more precisely pinpoint the likely area. Divers still unable to dive the area due to
strong currents. Attempted to drag
area. No missing persons reported in
Platte County or surrounding counties.
Sheriff suspended search until later in autumn, with divers having
difficulty in searching the designated area as well as no missing persons
report. Anticipated dog teams will
return in autumn when entire reservoir area is drained and dry, and Platte
River is low enough to wade across.
Tuesday 25 July 2000 – County Road 52E –
Direct response page at 08:34 for roll-over MVA at 8801 West County Road 52E
for possible carryout. Stood down
enroute at 08:47 as there were no injuries to the occupants.
Thursday 27 July 2000 – Greyrock Trail –
Direct response page at 11:22 at request of PVH ambulance Med3 for possible
carryout of subject with heat exposure, as the actual location of the subject
is unknown. Stood down enroute at
12:05, after Med3 paramedics determined subject was accessible with their
equipment.
Monday 31 July 2000 – Browns Lake area – The
duty SAR Manager was paged four times between 12:43 and 13:24 before
second-on-call Bill Cotton responded.
“As the information page sort of indicated, I picked up the call when
Don Griffith radioed that no SAR Manager had responded to his first
request. It was for an overdue person
who was supposed to be back Sunday night from a trip to Brown's Lake. The individual supposedly did not meet with
others for a different trip today. The
subject's father had shown the subject on a map a "short cut" to
Brown's Lake. The subject's father
indicates the subject would have left from the Brown's Lake Trailhead on the
Crown Point Road. Edward 14 went to the
area to check for the vehicle, but as of 14:15 he arrived at the Brown's Lake
Trailhead and the vehicle was not there.
At this time he is continuing to the Zimmerman Trail at the end of the
Crown Point Road. However, Don Griffith
has turned around and headed back to town since it was pretty clear the
individual would go from the Brown's Lake Trailhead. Griffith will recontact the reporting party to followup.”
Tuesday 1 August 2000 – south of Kremmling –
Request at 23:20 from CSRB duty coordinator for swift water / dive experts to
assist Grand County SAR with search for a possible kayaker in the Colorado
River, south of Kremmling. Referred him
to ES and LCDR.
Sunday 20 August 2000 – Camp Lake, Rawah Wilderness –
Paged at 12:29 for carryout of 16 year old male with an injured knee, eight
miles into the Rawah Wilderness at Camp Lake.
17 LCSAR members, 1 LCSO ES, 3 Poudre Canyon QRT's, 2 Poudre Canyon
Fire, and 2 Poudre Wilderness Volunteers participated in the mission. The two Poudre Wilderness Volunteers
happened upon the subject and made the call for help on their cell phone. Two LCSAR members, who were in the area at
the time of the notification, hiked in with one Poudre Canyon QRT and two
Poudre Canyon firefighters. Additional
LCSAR members responded with a litter and wheel. Upon arrival with the patient it was determined that there was a
good helispot and favorable weather conditions, so Flight For Life out of
Denver responded, picked up the patient (just before sunset) and flew him to
Poudre Valley Hospital. Finished at
21:52, and all personnel departing for home.
Saturday 26 August 2000 – Spectacle Lake, RMNP –
Paged at 22:45 with pre-alert, then at 07:37 Sunday, to assist RMNP personnel
with possible carryout of a female climber who fell 150 feet on a snow field
above Spectacle Lakes. The subject
suffered head lacerations as well as other various injuries. Initially it was thought that the subject’s
injuries were serious and a helicopter was requested for the morning to attempt
a landing. A Flight For Life Helicopter
approached the scene but was unable to land due to an inadequate helispot and
adverse weather. Eleven LCSAR members
responded to assist with a potential 1500 foot scree evacuation and 5 mile
trail carry. Ultimately the subject
felt better in the morning and was able to be assisted down the scree field
under her own power and was able to walk to Lawn Lake where she was transported
by horse. LCSAR resources were released
at 15:00.
Saturday-Sunday 9-10 September 2000 – Highlands Festival, Estes
Park – LCSAR personnel were staffing our display area at the Longs Peak
Scottish-Irish Festival, and we had the busiest ‘SAR’ activity level of any of
our 10 years of participation. The
Estes Park Police and LCSO Reserves provide crowd control, and Estes Park
Medical Center has an ambulance crew stationed there, and normally these
personnel handle lost and injured person incidents, respectively, and we have
direct radio contact with them.
However, this year saw record-setting attendance, and we assisted with
nine ‘missing person’ incidents, and five minor medical treatments. Next year is the 25th anniversary
of this Highlands Festival . . .
Friday 15 September 2000 – Pingree Park area –
Paged at 21:18 with report of an overdue 18 year old male hunter, from
Louisiana, who was bow hunting by himself.
He was last seen at day break near Sky Ranch, the location where he was
dropped off by the reporting party.
Eight LCSAR members, with no dogs, and one ES specialist were stood down
enroute, at 22:47, after the subject walked back into camp on his own. (An additional five members with one dog
were available for second operational period the following morning.)
Wednesday 20 September 2000 – Custer County –
Paged at 13:38 by CSRB duty coordinator with request for dog teams to assist
Custer County SAR with missing person search.
This was a long-duration mission, and they were planning an intensive
effort for the coming weekend. However,
LCSAR resources were stood down later in the evening, after search teams had
discovered the body of the missing person.
Monday 25 September 2000 – Mesa County – Paged
at 12:24 with request for dog teams to assist Mesa County SAR on search for two
missing persons. They had just
discovered, about noon, the body of one the missing persons. LCSAR resources were stood down later in the
evening, after search teams located the second person alive.
Wednesday 27 September 2000 – Johnny Park, Boulder County –
Paged at 19:47 with request for searchers and dog teams to assist Boulder
County and RMRG on search for a missing 82 year old female, who has a
pacemaker, and who suffers from Alzheimers.
14 LCSAR members with four dogs were stood down enroute, at 21:45, after
RMRG search teams located the person alive, but slightly hypothermic. They had sufficient personnel on scene to do
an up-haul evac out of the drainage.
Monday 9
October 2000 – Breckenridge area –
Request at 18:56 from Summit County Rescue Group [SCRG], via CSRB coordinator,
for trained searchers to escort volunteer searchers from the general public on
Tuesday, to canvass a large area near Breckenridge to find a woman who
vanished on 27 September. This became a
high-profile media event incident. 49
year old Sharon Garrison was reported missing on 2 October by her two sisters
and three daughters. Authorities said
Sharon Garrison had filed complaints with police about her husband, and she may
have told him she wanted a divorce from their 10 year marriage. SCRG and Sheriff’s Office personnel and a
Denver police helicopter equipped with an infrared camera, searched a 50-square-mile
area Monday without finding any evidence of the woman or her vehicle. Later that evening, the subject’s vehicle
was found near a frontage road along Interstate 70, about thirty four miles
east of the primary search area. Thus,
the Sheriff’s Office, via the news media, solicited volunteers to help with a
ground search on Tuesday, which led to SCRG’s request for trained SAR
escorts. LCSAR sent six members to
assist. About 150 volunteers and search
team members hiked the rugged National Forest lands around Sharon Garrison's
home Tuesday but were unable to locate the missing woman. They found what Summit County Sheriff Joe
Morales called "several items," but no substantial clues to her
disappearance. The ground search was
scaled back to focus on areas closest to the woman's home, prior to the
predicted heavy snowfalls. Later in the
week, Sheriff’s personnel obtained a search warrant for the Garrisons' home and
35-acre property. They located the
subject’s body near the house, under a landscaped area that had been recently
renovated.
Tuesday 10
October 2000 – Crown Point Road –
Direct response page at 17:01 for searchers and dogs to respond 9 miles up
Crown Point Road to search for a missing 33 year old female. The subject, Cindy, was described as poorly
dressed for the outdoors, not an outdoors-type, with leg problems and
questionable mental capacity. She had
been missing for about 4-6 hours, and the weather was dry and sunny, but very
cold. The subject and her roommate Pat,
had gone up to the Crown Point area to look for rocks. The women pulled off the road at about 13:00
and became separated while they were away from their vehicle. Pat reported her friend Cindy was missing at
about 14::30. Three Emergency Services
specialists and 16 LCSAR members with two dogs responded to the area to
search. When Cindy realized she was
lost, she built a fire and a lean-to shelter, staying in one place until she
was found, in good health, by the hasty team at 19:45, about 15 minutes after
beginning their search. She was found
about one mile from her original last seen point and it took about 30 minutes
for her to hike out with searchers.
Saturday
21 October 2000 – Greyrock Trail –
Direct response page at 09:00 to Greyrock Trail for carryout of a 19 year old
male with dislocated shoulder who may be going into shock. Two Emergency Services specialists and 22
LCSAR members responded to Greyrock Mountain hiking trail, arriving at
09:20. The hasty team made contact with
the subject about ½ hour later, while he was walking down the trail escorted by
friends. The subject has previous
experience with dislocating his shoulder, and had reduced the dislocation
himself prior to walking down the trail.
He refused any medical help, so the LCSAR members simply accompanied the
group during the hike to the parking lot, while the other responding members
waited there in case of a need for a litter carryout. The subject was transported by personal vehicle back to Fort
Collins.
Sunday 22 October 2000 – Twin Lakes, Pingree Park area – Alerted at 20:13 with report of a missing 20 year old hunter in the Twin Lakes Reservoir area. The missing hunter, from Arvada, and four companions had been drinking at their camp during the afternoon. At about 14:00 that afternoon the subject left camp to use the bathroom and never returned. Two hunters from an unrelated hunting party went to the community building at Pingree Park to make the call for help. Two Emergency Services specialists and 15 LCSAR members responded, arriving at 23:45, by which time the subject had been missing about 12 hours. It was wet and snowing during the afternoon so that there was 1-2 inches of snow on the ground in most areas during the search. Six field teams, including one dog team and one tracking team, began the search. At about 02:30, one of the field teams made contact with the missing hunter, finding him soaking wet and mildly hypothermic, but otherwise OK, in the bottom of a drainage. They gave him dry clothing and warm liquids, and walked him back to the hunting camp.
Tuesday 24 October 2000 – Mount Evans area –
Request at 14:07 from Alpine Rescue Team, via CSRB coordinator, for dogs and
searchers to assist with search for 38 year old male, overdue from a hike on
Mt. Evans. The subject was a former
marine, considered to be in good health, and had significant outdoor
experience, having summitted nine 14’s this year. The subject had gone hiking solo on Sunday, after vehicle trouble
prevented a friend from joining him.
When he didn’t return home on Monday, friends reported him overdue. His vehicle was located at Echo Lake parking
lot. Alpine Rescue Team had been
searching since Monday evening, and requested help via CSRB on Tuesday. LCSAR sent two members with one dog to
assist on Wednesday. This was another
mission with significant media exposure (even though they did not make the
find, a photo of Miriah with her handler Jayne, talking with the family at
base, was published by The Denver Post in the story of the find). The
body was located by an Air National Guard helicopter crew, which was not solely
the result of luck. The Chicago Lakes
basin area had been designated as a priority area by Alpine Rescue Team’s
Incident Command Post [ICP]. That
helicopter was devoted solely to searching that area, in support of several
ground teams and one or two dog teams.
Just prior to the helicopter having to depart to refuel, one dog handler
was heard reporting to the ICP that the dog had been reacting to a scent, but
possibly from high in the rocks. Rapid
communications between the ICP and the dog team enabled the helicopter crew to
make one last sweep higher on the eastern side. As they did so, they sighted the body, which was clad in an
orange parka. Because it was recognized
that the helicopter would not be able to stay on site long due to low fuel, the
nearby teams had to move quickly to pin point the location. With the assistance of the helicopter pilot,
they were able to do so, and confirmed that the subject was deceased. Trauma on the body indicated he had fallen
on the rugged, rocky terrain.
Tuesday 24 October 2000 – Mount Evans area – At the same time as the above described mission was beginning, a second report of an unrelated overdue female hiker was reported to Alpine Rescue Team. They immediately requested dog team resources from SARDOC. One dog team from LCSAR was stood down enroute when the woman returned to her vehicle. Apparently there had been miscommunication between the reporting party and the subject as to her expected return time.
Monday 6 November 2000 – north-central Fort Collins – as
reported by SAR Manager Dave Hake:
Sorry for not paging the Team out on this mission, but it started out
being so simple we thought it would be over before anyone got there. 20:15
My neighbor, Susan, knocked on my door and was in a panic because her 6
year old, Tucker, was not in the house yet.
She knew he was playing outside but he usually was in by now. She knew I was on the Search and Rescue
team, so I was the first person she came to.
We did a quick search of the area and we finally found him, crying and
clinging on for his life about 30 feet up in a tree. It was dark and the temperature had been dropping fast and we
knew he had to be cold! He had climbed
up so far that he was scared to come back down. The branch was so thin it barely held his weight, so climbing up
to get him was out of the question. We
tried to convince him that he could climb down, but he just kept crying. 20:30
I decided to get on top of a shed that was under the branch to get
closer, but it wasn't close enough to do any good. I went back to my house and grabbed a 12-foot long windsurfing
sail mast to see if I could nudge him with it, to get him to come down, but he
wasn't budging. Don't worry, by then
Susan got more of the neighbors out and we had a makeshift safety net set up
under him in case he fell. It was a
heavy piece of material, and we secured it with human ‘anchors’ on each corner
of the blanket. 20:45 We thought about calling Poudre Fire
Authority, but again we all thought it would be over soon. We did, however, get Emergency Services
involved; Don Griffith, my other neighbor.
He heard the commotion and came over to see what was going on. He also suggested calling PFA, but I wanted
to try one more thing. 22:00 Another friend of Susan’s, who was a
climber, was attempting to climb up the tree as far as he could to try to
convince Tucker to come down. I went
back to my house and got my 24-foot extension ladder. 22:10 By know we have 8
people in all. One halfway up in the
tree hanging on by his legs, trying to extend a cheap aluminum ladder from his
location out to Tucker for Tucker to climb down; 4 people on each corner of the
blanket for the safety net; I have my ladder extended up as high as I could,
but it only came to within 7 feet of Tucker; Susan still pleading for Tucker to
climb down; and Don Griffith overseeing the whole operation. I'm glad it was dark because we had quite
the operation going on and I'm glad that others couldn't see us. 22:18
I climbed to the top of my ladder and while hanging on to the branch,
yet not putting any weight on it, I stretched out as far as I could, but was
still 2 feet short from Tucker. He was
still crying and getting very cold and was having a hard time holding on to the
branch. I kept talking to him and
finally he started to move towards me.
I told Don to steady the ladder while I stepped up to the very top rung
to get as high as possible. Inches away
Tucker slowly started to climb towards my outstretched hand. 22:30
Tucker finally came close enough I lunged for his left arm and grabbed
it and pulled him in towards me. I held
him close to me and kind of put him in my coat so we could climb down the
ladder together. The crowd
cheered! Another life saved. 22:31
When we finally came down the ladder, Susan came over and gave Tucker a
big hug, then opened up a can of tuna for Tucker, who loves tuna … did I
mention that Tucker was her pet Cat?
Friday 10 November 2000 – Crown Point road –
Paged at 19:44 for dogs and searchers for an overdue hunter along Crown Point
road area. Of note is that the weather
was very inclement in town, with a ¼ inch layer of ice accumulation on the
roads. Yet we still respond, albeit at
a v-e-r-y s-l-o-w pace. Reported by
Cheryl Kennedy, our friendly inquisitor that night, who did the post-mission discussion with the
lost hunter. “You've got to be
kidding? A missing hunter page in this
weather! Maybe somebody else will
go! Oh no, only six people and no dogs
and severe weather moving in ... this is an emergency ... better load up. Sorry Apache! I know you aren't a snow bunny either but we don't get immediate
hunter pages unless it is critical."
Our subject was a 45 year old hunter who had gone out at 16:30 with his
son and friend. The son and friend went
one direction from the vehicle and the subject went another way. When the subject had not returned, the son
and friend notified dispatch. After the
one hour slither across town to the subject's home, I took some time to do an
interview with the wife and other friends there. Her descriptions of what he carried in his fanny pack, his
clothing, and general attitude were very close to actual. Now began the 1½ hour drive up the canyon, which was better driving conditions
than in town. SAR Manager Bill Young
and the Team arrived at base before me.
Bill had dispersed two teams following two separate drainages to cut for
sign (and boy was there sign ... hunters had been EVERYWHERE!). It was very cold and mostly clear in the
search area until around 04:00, when the fog started dropping in, along with
snow and damp conditions. Apache and I
were assigned to run the road heading west to see if we could pick up anything
from the downslope winds. About half
way through our area, Apache began pulling us uphill. We continued working uphill until he strongly acknowledged a
single set of tracks (the subject advised later that this is where he had
hunted earlier in the day). From vantage
points high on the area hills, teams could get a look at the other mountainsides
to check for fires, etc. We were seeing
and hearing nothing. Apache then pulled
us up farther to a set of dual tracks surrounded by obvious signs of people
following those tracks and cutting the tracks.
Apache had strongly pulled us to the subject's tracks and then
acknowledged (totally different behaviors between the two sets of tracks) the
subject's son and friend's sets of tracks higher on the mountain. Thank goodness I spent the extra drive time
to get the scent article! The other two
teams were still cutting for sign, running the ridges and following the
powerline to the Poudre. Apache did
seem to off and on want to pull to the NE, but not with a strong pull. The area being searched is notorious for
people getting turned around due to fingers/drainages/dense timber and lots of
downed timber, which doesn't show on the maps.
The going was slow on the timbered hillsides, amidst four inches of snow
on the ground. It was imperative that
we move slowly and do heavy attraction, due to the conditions and that the
subject could be down, either due to hypothermia or in trying to get out of the
weather. It became critical to check
nooks and crannies, behind logs, around heavy brush. This subject was wearing all cotton and had only his rifle with
him. His well-supplied survival pack,
with most of his ammunition, was faithfully waiting on the seat of his
vehicle. However, he was a scout leader
and knowledgeable in survival. That
meant he might be tucked in somewhere and unable to hear us until we were right
on top of him. Around 05:30, Dan and I
returned to base to warm up, after quite an interesting trek when the fog
settled in (thank goodness for compass, map and GPS skills!). The other two teams returned to base between
06:00 and 06:30. Around 07:15, Ocean 3
advised that the subject had been picked up by another hunter three miles east
and was being brought to base. When the
subject arrived at base he was in good spirits, somewhat cold, and VERY glad to
have gotten out. On the drive down the
mountain he gave his description of what happened. They went out around 16:30, intending to be out for ½ hour. By 17:30 he realized he was ‘a mite
confused’ about his location. By 18:00
he had found a rock for a wind break, and layered pine boughs below and heavily
over himself. He had three rifle shells
with him. He tried taking one apart to
get a small fire started. After two
hours, he gave up. He heard numerous
shots during the time around dark, yet held off on shooting the rifle as he
knew that he might need the shots later.
He finally burrowed under the pine boughs, and pulled his hands inside
his Carhart bib overalls to keep them as warm as possible next to his
body. At some point during the night he
heard the rumble of the sidepipes on my jeep, and thought he heard vehicles
being started and turned off, but he couldn't tell what direction they were in.
This seems to indicate he was relatively close to base. By 04:00 he was totally miserable and wasn't
sure he was going to make it out. He
mulled over all the things he had done to survive to see if he had missed
anything. At 06:00 he decided he
couldn't take it anymore and began moving.
He had spent the night high on the slopes, and so stayed up high while
walking until he could see a road (Pingree Park road) and a hunter's
vehicle. He was being driven back to
his vehicle by this other hunter when they encountered an Emergency Services
vehicle along the Pingree Park Road. He
didn't explain why he didn't fire his rifle during the night when other hunters
were finished shooting for the night.
Although embarrassed, he readily acknowledged his mistakes, and figured
that he would have quite a list of "honey do's" next hunting season
instead of hunting! His story does
clarify several elements of the search.
Immersed between the pine boughs, his hearing was muffled. Attraction signals would need to be loud and
proximal to arouse him. These pine
bough layers also confine the air scent that the dogs work with, forcing it to
float close to the ground as it migrates with the diurnal breezes. This explains Apache's gradual pull to the
NE, as well as his seeming to trail when there was not a trail scent to
follow. Pay attention to changes in
normal dog behaviors to figure out what the subject might be doing at that
point that would cause such a change.
[Later that week, this amazingly similar report from the National
Park Service appears on their “Morning Report” - Sleeping Bear Dunes National
Lakeshore, MI – Search – When the 32 year old male subject failed to meet his
hunting partners at the appointed time and place on the afternoon of 16
November, they checked some possible locations for him, then called 911. Rangers were dispatched and made an
unsuccessful effort to find him.
Additional help was brought in.
The subject was described by his companions as inexperienced in the
outdoors; they also reported that he was poorly equipped for survival, and that
he had a prosthetic leg. Temperatures
were in the low 30s, with wind chill readings around zero. Over the course of the night and following
morning, the search escalated to include three dog teams, a Coast Guard
helicopter, and 75 ground searchers from six volunteer fire and rescue
departments and eight other agencies.
Fourteen park employees were involved.
The subject walked out at 08:30 the next morning. He said that he'd become disoriented, so
made a pine bough bed for the night.
Although he had seen the helicopter and heard search sirens, he was
afraid to leave his prepared bed, so waited for the morning.]
Saturday 11 November 2000 – Paged at 20:01 Duty SAR
Manager call Ocean 2 – Paged at 20:04 Duty SAR Manager disregard; the overdue
party has been found.
Sunday 26 November 2000 – Montgomery Pass area –
Paged at 19:51 for snow-skilled members to search for a missing snowshoer on
Montgomery Pass. The subject, a 30 year old male, had gone
to the area at 10:00 Sunday morning with two friends to snowshoe and ski. The subject separated from his companions
because he wanted to go to the top of Montgomery Pass, a scenic area at about
11,000 feet elevation. The three were
supposed to rendezvous at a designated place at 14:00 Sunday afternoon. When the subject failed to show up, his
friends searched for about 5 hours without success and called the Larimer
County Sheriff's Office for help at 19:30 Sunday night. The subject was dressed fairly well for
conditions and had some food and water with him. Three ES specialists and 18 LCSAR members with one dog arrived at
Zimmerman Lake parking lot at 21:30, and established the Incident Command Post
(ICP) there. Weather conditions were
extremely difficult, with temperatures in the teens, strong winds up to 50 mph
and heavy snowfall. Five field teams,
on skis or snowshoes, searched until 05:30 Monday. Blowing and accumulating snow was quickly erasing tracks, however
some tracks were located by trailing dog during the night, moving north just
below the ridgeline. This trailing team
returned to base to warm up at 05:30.
Later that morning 19 additional personnel from LCSAR, Routt County
Search and Rescue, Alpine Rescue Team, and Diamond Peaks Nordic Ski Patrol were
sent back into the maelstrom. In
addition, five people with Colorado State Forest Service and Jackson County
Sheriff’s Office, using snowshoes and snowmobiles, searched on the west side of
Montgomery Pass. At about 10:30, a
search team on skis found additional snowshoe tracks approximately one mile
north of the last seen point, just below ridgeline. No other visual clues were located. A Larimer County Sheriff's deputy drove Hwy 14 with lights and
sirens to try and attract the subject.
Weather conditions continued to be unfavorable, with strong winds and
heavy snow throughout the day. At
14:10, a search team on skis located the subject along the Sawmill Creek Trail,
about 2½ miles north of Montgomery Pass.
He deliberately stayed high on the slopes, near treeline, as he knew
that’s where he was supposed to rejoin his friends. However, once he realized he was lost, he walked in a large
figure-8 pattern all night and the next day, to stay warm and avoid getting
further lost. He heard sirens around
noon on Monday, and realized searchers were out looking for him. The search team escorted him down to a
waiting snowmobile and then vehicle back to the ICP. He was checked by an EMT and had some minor frostbite on his
knuckles that did not require any medical treatment on scene, though he was
advised to go to the hospital when he returned to Fort Collins. He was transported home by private vehicle. All units had departed the ICP by 16:30.
Tuesday 28 November 2000 – Big Elk Meadows –
Paged at 16:20 to assist Boulder County ES and RMRG with search for a lost
hunter along the Boulder/Larimer county line.
Subject was found in good health by RMRG personnel shortly after LCSAR
was alerted, and we were stood down at 16:34.
Wednesday 6 December 2000 – Horsetooth Reservoir –
Emergency Services was paged at 17:00 about an overdue party in Dixon Dam
area. The informant was in a vehicle at
the south end of the dam. While ES was
enroute, PFA Engine 7 advised they were enroute to a report of a fire on the
west side of Horsetooth Dam. ES met
with the informant and then planned to drive the roads around the
reservoir. The on-duty SAR Manager was
paged, and just as the manager called in, the lost person was located by LCSAR
team member Steve Carr, who was the informant on the fire report. No other resources were needed, and LCSAR
was stood down. Steve had seen the fire
as he was driving home that night, reported it, and then hiked to the scene,
carrying his packset radio. The lost
party had started the fire for attraction and to stay warm. Steve and a Lory State Park Officer walked
the lost party out to a parking lot in Lory State Park. He had a swollen ankle from a slip on the
rocks while lost, but refused medical treatment on scene. He was transported by private vehicle back
home. All units were clear by 19:00. The lost party was found to have an
outstanding warrant and was later contacted by Sheriff's deputies about that.
Sunday 10 December 2000 – Buckhorn Canyon –
Paged at 22:39 with report of overdue hunter somewhere up the Buckhorn Canyon
road. Two hunters were hunting earlier
in the day. The lost subject went back
later to hunt by himself and didn't return home. The reporting party drove back up, located the subject’s vehicle
and returned to a phone to report the subject missing. The RP then returned to the scene and
discovered the subject at his vehicle.
LCSAR response was stood down at 23:11.
Twelve members, with two dogs, had called in as available prior to the
stand down page.
Wednesday 27 December 2000 – Glen Haven area – And
another media event: paged at 13:18 by Emergency Services, with a request to
assist LCSO Investigations and the Denver Police Department on Thursday, with a
search in the Glen Haven area for two alleged homicide victims. Eight LCSAR members with two dogs joined
members of the Posse and numerous law enforcement personnel to scour a 6- to
10-square-mile area between Glen Haven Road and Dunraven Glade Road. No bodies were found. An alleged jail escapee, who is in Denver
police custody for an unrelated crime, told Denver police officers that he
dumped two bodies in the Drake area, but did not say when he allegedly dumped
the bodies. "We do not know if it
is a hoax, or if he actually did this," a Denver police spokeswoman
said. "We are up there following
what he said he had done. We just had
to follow up on this. Nothing seems to
be panning out. His confession is
unsubstantiated." Denver
authorities said they doubt there ever were bodies, and they didn't continue
the search on Friday.
Wednesday 27 December 2000 – Longs Peak –
Paged at 18:56 to provide dogs and searchers to assist RMNP with search for a
Park volunteer overdue on a hike to Longs Peak. LCSAR sent four members with two dogs. 77 year old Walter was hiking alone to Longs Peak and last was
seen above timberline, about 10,500 feet elevation, around 11:30 Wednesday
morning. This volunteer frequently hikes
alone on Longs Peak and is an experienced hiker who was dressed warmly and had
snowshoes with him. The snow base on
Longs Peak was 30 inches, although drifts of deeper snow had formed above
timberline. It wasn't windy and the
skies were clear on Longs Peak during the day.
However, after nightfall, the winds picked up substantially as the
temperature dropped, producing severe wind chill and near-zero visibility. Search teams found his pack and snowshoes
off the trail to the east, south of Alpine Brook, and located a fresh set of
prints in a snowbank nearby. Shortly
thereafter, at about 23:30, RMNP rangers found the subject cold, exhausted and
disoriented, near timberline. RMNP
Chief Ranger Joe Evans said “He was hiking for his own enjoyment and to look at
some of the conditions on the trails, to report to us so we can share that
information with visitors. He is
generally familiar with the area and is known to take some shortcuts to get
down off the mountain, and had done that, and with diminishing light, became
disoriented. He was in the very early
stages of hypothermia. He lost a glove
and had a little frost nip on one hand when he was found”, Evans said. Rescuers walked him back to the trail, then
carried him out in a litter. LCSAR’s
dog teams were hiking in to the search area when the find was made, but did
continue on to assist with the carryout.
Walter is a longtime volunteer at the Longs Peak ranger station. During the summer of 1996, at the age of 72,
he made his 100th ascent of the 14,225-foot peak. He is well-known for his knowledge of the mountain and has kept a
journal of every climb of Longs Peak.
Friday 29 December 2000 – Cameron Pass –
Direct response page at 13:06 with report of an avalanche on Diamond Peaks, and
possibly a snowboarder trapped in it.
At 13:00 LCSO dispatch received a teletype from Craig dispatch that an
avalanche had occurred at the top of Cameron Pass and that a snowboarder was
missing in it. Two Emergency Services
specialists and 16 LCSAR members responded direct, though in non-emergency
mode, as per the Avalanche Preplan.
Meanwhile, the LCSO mountain deputy and Jackson County Sheriff personnel
were enroute. An avalanche dog team
from Routt County was requested (and stood down before having traveled very far). Poudre Canyon and Glacier View QRT’s were
alerted, but as they had no one available, a Jackson County ambulance
responded. Information was received
that 6 to 8 people were on scene searching as rescue units responded. Vehicles in the parking lot were being
flagged as the owners were accounted for.
Citizens in the parking lot were in contact with those searching via FRS
radios. At 14:45, just as LCSAR members
began arriving at the staging area, word came from the scene that the victim’s
body was found. LCSAR members retrieved
the body, and turned it over to Jackson County officials, as a GPS reading of
UTM 0423876E 4485135N determined the recovery to be their jurisdiction. (There was initial confusion that the
subject’s dog was also involved, and it was learned the next day that this pet
was at home and OK.) All LCSAR and ES
personnel departed the area by 18:00 and headed back to Fort Collins. The following report is from the Colorado
Avalanche Information Center’s investigation.
Appended after it are pertinent extracts from the three “snowpack
condition and avalanche danger” broadcasts issued the morning and afternoon of
the accident, and the next morning.
A 40-year-old snowboarder was climbing the east face of Diamond
Peak at Cameron Pass. He was wearing
snowshoes with his board in his backpack.
Once he reached the bench at timberline, he began climbing up the main
gully. Two other snowshoers (from
Minnesota) were standing on the bench and filming the lone climber with their
camcorder. They stopped filming when
they thought he had reached the ridge, which happened to be 2 minutes before
the avalanche, and they began walking away from the slope. At 11:55, the climber triggered a large
avalanche when he was about 200 feet below the ridge, and about 100 feet below
the fracture line.
The avalanche came down with a large powder cloud and debris
filled the bench and flowed over the bench (which is about 400 feet across and
slopes gently) into the timber. The
debris overran the spot the two snowshoers had been standing on two minutes
earlier and stopped a few feet short of where they were standing. Meanwhile, a Fort Collins resident was
driving toward the pass and saw the avalanche.
He parked and began climbing up the lower track toward the bench and
avalanche debris area. He met the two
snowshoers, learned someone was in the avalanche, and began a beacon
search. He searched for 45 minutes
without success. Someone stopped a CDOT
truck and the Jackson and Larimer County Sheriffs were notified. Sometime near 15:00, rescuers saw the tip of
a snowboard sticking from the snow and located the victim, who had died. He had been carried about 600 vertical feet
down a sustained 37-degree slope, and was buried about 1 foot deep. The body was just inside the Jackson County
line.
The avalanche was classified as HS-AF-3-G (hard slab, triggered by
a person on foot, medium size relative to the path, and ran to the
ground). The fracture line was 250
yards wide, averaged 2-3 feet deep, and was 5 feet at the deepest point (not 10
feet deep as previously reported and not 500 yards wide). The high point of the fracture was 11,620
feet and the toe of the debris was at 10,860 feet. A smaller avalanche had released, probably on Tuesday 26
December, just to the south of this one.
The east face of Diamond Peak is an active avalanche area, and this is
the third avalanche fatality on this slope.
The previous ones were on 9 January 1993 and 14 December 1999.
At the fracture the slab was very hard (1 finger to pencil hardness),
2-3 feet thick, and resting on 6 inches of depth hoar. However, it is very likely that at the point
the victim triggered the avalanche, the slab was less hard and the depth hoar
layer was deeper. The avalanche scoured
the snowpack back to the ground over most of the starting zone and brought a
lot of dirt down the track.
“Snowpack condition and avalanche danger” sections extracted from
the avalanche information reports for Friday morning, Friday afternoon and
Saturday morning, respectively.