DILIGENT: Larimer County Search and Rescue
personnel register an average 400 hours per year on training,
public education and missions.
Want more
info?
To learn more about Larimer County Search and Rescue or to
make a donation to the team visit http://www.larimercountysar.org/
or call 498-5314.
Tips for staying safe in the wilderness
Before you leave for the wilderness, let somebody know
where you're going and when you'll return. Ask them to call
for help if you haven't returned by a specific time.
If your plans change when you get to a trailhead, leave a
note on your dashboard describing your new plans.
Test your gear before you leave the house to make sure you
know how to use it and that it is working properly.
Learn how to use a map and a compass, and carry them with
you when you go out.
Be prepared to stay warm and dry. Wear wool, fleece or
polypropylene, and avoid cotton clothing.
Drink plenty of water. Bring a minimum of two quarts per
day, and sip frequently as you go.
Pay attention to where you are, and occasionally turn back
and look behind you.
If you get lost, stay put. Someone who is wandering around
is a lot harder to find. Make yourself big and loud so that
searchers will be more likely to see and hear you and, if
possible, build a small fire. A fire is comforting, and the
flames and smoke also can help lead searchers to you.
Before 1993, Shelley
Calisher never gave much thought to search and rescue.
"I never intended to get lost," said Calisher, a seasoned hiker
and avid angler who knew her way around Poudre Canyon.
On a cool June afternoon, Calisher learned the hard way that even
the most-experienced hikers can get turned around in the wilderness.
After spending a cold and frightening night alone in the woods with
only her dog and some fish she'd caught at a mountain lake, the
58-year-old has never forgotten the importance of a volunteer group
whose mission is to help people who become lost or injured in the
wilderness.
"Just knowing that Search and Rescue is there is really
comforting to me," said Calisher, who was spotted by a helicopter
the morning after she got lost. Within minutes, a Larimer County
Search and Rescue dog team that had picked up her scent found her
and escorted her out of the woods.
Marking 25 years of service this month, the county's Search and
Rescue group has helped hundreds of people like Calisher.
On call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the elite team has
logged well more than 500,000 hours of work since its formation in
1979.
In that time, the team has grown and the training has become more
advanced, but Mike Fink, a member of Search and Rescue since 1980,
said little has changed over time.
"We basically have the same ideals: to help people who are lost
or injured who need to be rescued or searched for," Fink said,
noting that even the tactics for searches and rescues have stayed
pretty much the same, though new courses on tracking and technical
rescue recently have been added to the team's repertoire.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said Search and Rescue's
assistance has been invaluable to his office, which is required by
law to provide search-and-rescue services.
"Without their most-capable assistance we would not be able to
fulfill that duty," Alderden said. "They've been very successful in
the past, and we certainly appreciate their support.
Fink said Larimer County Search and Rescue's unpaid members log
an average of 400 hours per year on training, public education and
missions. Members carry pagers and respond any time they can to all
sorts of outdoor mishaps.
While Greyrock Mountain tends to generate one or two calls each
year, the rest of Search and Rescue's missions are spread out all
over Larimer County, Fink said.
Most members are people who love to be active in the wilderness
and have combined that passion with their desire to help people,
Fink said, noting that the team tends to be about 50 percent female,
though historically women have outnumbered men on the team.
With an annual budget of $35,000 for equipment and training,
Larimer County Search and Rescue is funded almost entirely by grants
and donations.
"Studies have shown that if people think they've got to pay,
they're more reluctant to make that initial call for help," Fink
said, noting that for that reason, the team generally does not
charge for its services, though donations from victims are always
welcome.
In the wilderness, the more time that passes before authorities
respond, the harder it is to find a victim and the more serious an
injury is likely to be, Fink said.
Larimer County Search and Rescue's most noteworthy missions
include the search for Jaryd Atadero, a 3-year-old from Littleton
who vanished in Poudre Canyon in 1999. The search went on for months
before being suspended. In 2003, a pair of hikers found pieces of
the boy's clothing, which led authorities to his bones. Authorities
believe Atadero was killed by a mountain lion.
"Even though it didn't turn out well, we all came together on
that one, and hopefully the family felt better," knowing we were
doing everything we could to find him, Fink said.
More recently, the team has participated in the search for Gloria
Nelson, a motorcyclist from New Mexico whose body has been missing
in the Poudre River since she crashed and flipped over a guardrail
in July.
While it's been 11 years since Calisher got lost in the
wilderness, the Red Feather Lakes resident said she's never
forgotten the experience.
In addition to finding her cold, wet and miserable on the side of
a mountain, Calisher said members of Search and Rescue did wonders
for her rattled confidence.
"I was absolutely horrified when I found out how many people had
been out there looking for me. There were probably 40 or 50 people,"
she said. "But afterward, one of the searchers said two things that
really stayed with me -- one, that she was glad to see a woman out
in the wilderness by herself, and two, that this is what the team
members do for fun."
That experience and her own love of the outdoors prompted
Calisher to join the team. Serving for about five years until she
moved to Red Feather Lakes, Calisher said she had helped a lot of
people in situations similar to her own that June day in 1993.
Fink and Calisher said the team is something like a family, and
while the work is rewarding, the best part of Search and Rescue
seems to be the people.
"I love them. They're a good bunch, and I miss the time I spent
with them," Calisher said.
