2013 was another busy year for CCSAR-N. The year started out with three winter incidents. A group of hikers were stranded because of an avalanche path blocking their descent route on Mt Princeton and needed assistance navigating the hazard. We then had an overdue snowmobiler, followed by an injured snowmobiler on Cottonwood Pass.
The flows in the Arkansas River were quite low, so though we had seven incidents involving the river, none were fatal. We responded to four incidents involving injured or missing boaters. We had one vehicle in the river, a report of a possible body in the river which turned out to be a deer, and a river search for a toddler last seen at the BV River Park. Fortunately the boy was asleep at home under some blankets. Additionally, members of the Swiftwater Team responded to Boulder for possible deployment during the massive flooding.
Incidents involving hikers are always our largest source of missions. We had four injured or sick hikers that needed evacuation, plus eleven missions involving responses for overdue or missing hikers. Additionally we responded to rescue an injured ATVer, an injured mountain biker and an injured equestrian rider.
Just when we thought the summer rescue season was winding down we had two of the largest and most difficult missions in our history. On September 22 a 64-year-old hiker, Gene George, was reported missing in the Mt Harvard/Mt Columbia area. He had likely been seen the prior day by other hikers. A massive multi-day search found no sign of Mr. George. More than 100 volunteers from seven counties spanned the two-mountain area with helicopters, a fixed-wing aircraft, multiple search dog teams, three horseback and mule teams and other specialized equipment. The search covered over seventy square miles. As a post note, a recreational snowshoer discovered remains on March 23, 2014 which were recovered the following day. Mr. George’s wallet was discovered with the remains, bringing closure to this mission.
Then on September 30, a mission more tragic than any we’ve had occurred. Three members of the Dwayne Johnson family along with two visiting cousins were killed in a rock slide at the Agnes Vaille Falls on Mt Princeton. Then only survivor was 13-year-old Gracie Johnson, who was protected from the slide by her father Dwayne. The Johnson family was well-known and loved in the community, and friends of many members of CCSAR-N, making the recovery effort particularly hard.
The most unusual mission was an incident where a camper on Mt Princeton heard a woman and child screaming in distress for 45 minutes. SAR and law enforcement began a hasty search in the late evening, but were forced down by a severe thunderstorm. The next morning as teams were getting ready to deploy, a SAR member talked to staff at Frontier Ranch (located on Mt Princeton) who reported that they had staged a play the previous night where a family got separated and fell off a cliff. The “help” screams etc. were part of the play.
Each year the team strives to increase mission readiness. This year we significantly improved our swiftwater, high angle and avalanche readiness, both with training and equipment. We are also pleased to welcome a number of skilled and dedicated new members.
