Some search and rescue operations say it's been a dangerous year on Colorado's mountains
A 42-year-old man died Monday on Boulder's Second Flatiron. The man appeared to have fallen about 100 feet as he was running and scrambling said Rocky Mountain Rescue. The Boulder County Sheriff said friends went looking for him after he did not return home after sunset and found the body.
It was likely the 16th fatality for Boulder-based Rocky Mountain Rescue this year said public information officer and team leader Drew Hildner who wished to share condolences with the family. Fatalities, said Hildner, have been about 15% of this year's missions, while in recent years they have been 4% or 5%.
The sheriff's office has been doing more initial work on many calls and clearing some before Rocky Mountain Rescue gets called, so there has been a reduction in calls easily handled.
"The calls we do get are actual calls," said Hildner. "And oftentimes injuries are more severe or in more technical terrain. And that's been a trend we've seen the last two or three years."
Other organizations are seeing a rise in the percentage of serious calls and calls overall.
Alpine Rescue plucked a 20-year-old off Mt. Bierstadt After midnight over the weekend. The college student from Texas, a Kansas native, was attempting his first 14er. Fortunately, he told his father that if he wasn't back in touch by 8 p.m., he should call for help. The father did. Rescuers spotted the young man's flashlight on a steep area at about 11,500 feet. His boots had become wet and were frozen. He was no longer going anywhere.
"When we found him probably about 12:30 in the morning. He was obviously cold. But you know he hadn't taken that turn into severe hypothermia hadn't taken the turn into frostbite," said Alpine Rescue's Steve Wilson. Had the hiker spent the night, it could have been disastrous.
"It would have been much worse," said Wilson. "Frostbite on his fingers. Toes any exposed flesh, ears, cheeks, and nose. Much more severe hypothermia, dehydration," he listed.
They put a harness on the man and got him down to flatter ground. There they loaned him a pair of snowshoes and he was able to hike out with them.
He was not well prepared for his endeavor said Wilson. "I would call them medium-weight hiking boots. Not what I would think are the best footwear for winter conditions." But he did do a couple of things right. One was leaving word with his father about where he was going and when to call for help. The other was that he had a flashlight, which he used to signal rescuers.
It was the 164th mission for Alpine Rescue this year. The following day they were on mission 165.
"Our busiest year is this one by a considerable margin," said Wilson. The greatest number of missions in a single year previously was 145 in 2016.
Explaining why is hard. The rescue groups think some of the explanations are based on anecdotal information. Wilson does know that they are doing fewer searches and more rescues. It used to be a 50/50 split.
"Now it's more like 65% rescues and 35% searches because cell phones help. You know, people have the map at their at their fingertips, and they can. They can find their way out."
Cell phones and GPS devices have helped, but also have created some issues of enabling said Hildner.
"A common thing that we see with technology, is we can push further into harder terrain and humans desire to get out there and adventure," he said. "Maybe that's causing them to feel a little bit less cautious, a little bit more emboldened to kind of stretch what they're doing a little bit more."
Some of the activities in the mountains have changed. There are more people running in high-altitude areas, that some call sky running. There are several high-terrain trail runners still missing in Colorado.
"That allows you to travel quickly, that allows cover a lot of territory, but the problem is even if you just sprain an ankle and take you out of being able to move that quickly, suddenly you're really kinda' stuck where you are," said Hildner.
There has also been an increase in scrambling – steep inclines without the use of ropes.
"We're seeing a lot more scramblers getting injured, or unfortunately falling to their deaths."
Rescue groups want to underline that people should have the "10 essentials." That is the way to stay prepared. They prefer that people not hesitate to call sooner, rather than later, while there is daylight and temperatures have not yet fallen. But overall they are not judgmental.
"We don't mind getting out of bed, or not going to bed to come, and rescue somebody. And we'd much rather do it early in the situation," said Wilson. The search and rescue services are called out by sheriff's offices in Colorado, which are responsible for lost parties. They are all volunteer and do not charge for services.
