Labradoodle "Zola" rescued after 600-foot fall from Torreys Peak, one of Colorado's iconic 14ers
After anchoring their rappelling gear to a rock at the top of Torreys Peak, Alpine Rescue Team was ready to drop straight over a cornice to retrieve Zola, a labradoodle who they believe fell right over the edge on July 2. They chose the most medically qualified rescuer on the team, as well as the lightest.
"Considering we were going to have to lower her about 30 feet and then haul her back up we wanted to make sure that we had someone light," laughed Jake Smith Alpine Rescue Team.
Their team got the call after a family told them they lost track of the dog around the summit. The dog was not leashed and disappeared. Another group of hikers said they saw what they thought was the dog over the side of a cliff. Members of the Alpine Rescue Team were able to spot the dog through a pair of binoculars and started the long hike up.
"Where it was was right below a cornice that was about 20 feet tall, unfortunately, we were going to have to send a rescuer on a rope no matter what," Smith explained.
Zola was moving, but not well, and they didn't think she could make it back down to where rescuers could get to her. So rappelling down the side was their fastest and only option as storm clouds rolled through. But this wasn't a cakewalk.
"Given the terrain, we were dealing with, were we going to have viable anchors? Was the cornice at risk of collapsing if we did send a rescuer down?" Smith said, going through their decision-making process.
Next came the tricky part, in theory.
"Unlike a human where you can give pretty clear commands and hopefully they will listen...a dog being scared being in that type of terrain, we had no idea," Smith said. "But she was really well trained and listened to our commands really well."
The team didn't have a method on hand to get the dog hooked up to the rappel system, so they improvised and used a containing bag (which hold more rescue gear) and zipped Zola up to her neck in the coincidently perfect-sized bag. Then it was the small task of getting back up the 30-foot drop, with an injured dog dangling from a rescuer dangling from a rope.
"It was certainly precarious," Smith said "But we are all certified on this sort of thing."
Zola was hoisted to safety, the family was elated to hear she was ok, and the owners tell CBS Colorado she only needs surgery on one leg and then should recover just fine. Alpine Rescue Team said they wanted to remind folks they do all of this for free, this is a team of volunteers who work off of the support of the community.
The final takeaway, keep your pup leashed.
"In this type of high-consequence terrain I think it definitely makes sense to have your animals on a leash just to prevent this type of thing from happening," Smith said.
