Backcountry rescue near Aspen

[Another Steve]

Thanks to eprenshaw for the rest of the story. First off, I'm really glad to hear you were able to locate the injured climber and help out. We thought it might have been you, as we didn't see anyone else behind us on the mountain and my brother had talked to one of you and knew you were planning an ascent. Sorry you didn't get your peak, though.

Your account fills in a couple gaps for me. I bet what we heard wasn't the injured climber at all, but rather your fellow camper yelling "Hello?" That would explain why it didn't sound like "help" to us and also the perceived direction relative to our campsite (which was south of the creek and set back a couple hundred feet from the lakeshore, i.e. to the south of you).

Second, the position of the injured climber is interesting, given that it was right along our ascent route (which is also the normal route, as I understand it). Judging from the Mountain Rescue Aspen video (thanks for that info, by the way!), I think it might be just a little higher up the scree slope than your circle, but I am not certain. (See around 0:50 in the video for a good shot down slope.) In any case, my pink line isn't super precise. I think we would have passed within a couple hundred yards of the two of them, though. Had they had headlamps on or shouted I think we would have been in range to spot them. Maybe sheer exhaustion had taken hold at that point and they were both asleep? This would have been around 5:30 AM, I think, and it was still very dark. In any case, it sounds like the only useful thing we could have done at that point was help draw the SAR helicopter's attention when it showed up later in the morning, so I guess no harm that we missed them.

Third, I understand the helicopter search patterns now.

I think I know the waterfall spot referred to. It's way up in the gully. It is several yards of smooth rock with a thin sheet of water flowing across most of it; I can see how it would be quite slick. We avoided it carefully on our descent. (We had crossed to the path on the north side of the gully lower a good bit down on our way up, which I highly recommend.) Incidentally, we found a red ripped jacket stuff sack on the scree slope a bit further down from that point; maybe it belonged to you, the climbers, or one of the SAR team. I'd offer to return it, but we already threw it away.

Thanks to others who have posted advice and helicopter communication info; I'll remember that for the future. Given what we knew and how the situation unfolded, I feel a bit better about our decision process now.

[AyeYo]

Oh, one more thing. IMO it's far more commonly known in Europe where they have extensive alpine rescue helicopter networks, but there is an accepted protocol on how to wave at helicopters (to the point it's printed on the inside pocket flaps of some Euro packs, e.g. I believe some Ortovox and Deuter packs): If a chopper is circling/hovering nearby, a single raised hand wave means "OK," while two hands raised and waving means "help." I assume the local pilots know of this protocol, but that's speculation on my part.

-Tom

That's contradictory to what's printed on the inside lid of my Lowe Alpine pack. The pack shows arms up in a Y formation as a help signal and waving at opposite angles (basically air writing an N) for no help needed.

[eprenshaw]

Steve, you may be right, it may be higher up on the scree slope than my circle, it was really hard to tell at night and I am going by memory. The video would be the best indication. I do believe you would've passed within a couple hundred yards but they were probably asleep and it was hard for you to see. The SPOT GPS message brought the SAR team right to the location. Thanks for sharing your account. I do remember talking to one of you the afternoon before. We were in a pretty good position for a summit attempt, but considering everything that happened it we really didn't mind. Just glad to be back safely. The mountain will still be there, so maybe we can try again next time.

Incidentally, we found a red ripped jacket stuff sack on the scree slope a bit further down from that point; maybe it belonged to you, the climbers, or one of the SAR team. I'd offer to return it, but we already threw it away.

Wow Steve, that is crazy. The red jacket stuff sack actually belonged to me. I loaned my red down jacket to the injured climber. The day after the rescue I was able to get it back, but I noticed the stuff sack was missing. The climber's brother said it had blown away when the helicopter came. If it was ripped up, sounds like it wasn't much use anymore. Thanks

[polar]

while two hands raised and waving means "help."

The pack shows arms up in a Y formation as a help signal

I fail to see the contradiction here. But anyway, I think the whole body signal thing is pretty ridiculous. First of all it's not universal and easy to misinterpret, and what if you can only raise one arm due to an injury? Now you're signaling "I'm ok"?

I think if a helicopter is circling you and you don't need rescue, just lower your head and pretend that you don't see them, pretty sure the pilot will fly away if they don't see any reaction from you. If you do need rescue, wave all four limbs, jump up and down, do cartwheels, back flips, scream your lungs off... I'm pretty sure if you act like a lunatic, the pilot will understand that something is wrong and you need some (mental) help.

[mtnmarkingten]

Steve, eprenshaw, et al: Thank you for sharing your perspectives and experiences with this incident.

And epernshaw, thanks you for responding the way you and your partner did. I’m glad to hear that the climber is alive and doing ok, all things considered, especially given the tragedy next door on the Bells last Wed.

Steve, I probably would have responded similarly had I been in your situation with the limited / confusing information that you had.

Your perspectives and proximity to the incident feel close to home for me. My wife and I were in the Maroon-Snowmass area backpacking / climbing for our vacation last week, not far from you as the ‘hawk’ flies (Moon Lake/Capitol area). For our original itinerary we were hoping to put a bid on Snowmass E slopes route for Thurs 9/8 from Bear Creek via Heckert Pass. We changed plans mid week (which was the right decision for us, though it was a tough one--given the glorious weather and our past experience with this mtn, having to turn back on a previous attempt in the past), so we could have been a lot closer to your situations and this incident than we realized.

When we came out of the mtns and learned about this incident and a climber dying on the Bells last Wed, it made me think about some things—more than usual for whatever reason. Then finding your accounts here and reading your experiences have made me think even more, so thanks again for sharing.

Here’s a question, especially for those involved if you're willing to oblige:

In this specific incident, how much time saved and/or risk minimized do you think that having and using the SOS device contributed to the rescue of this injured climber?

(I ask because, up to this point, I have resisted getting an SOS-type device for a variety of reasons… Yet—as I’m sure we all know at some level—anything can happen in the mountains, whether to you, me, a partner, or another party… And I’m slowly getting to a point in life where this reality is becoming less an abstract dictum and more a felt, even if manageable, presence.)

All that to say, thanks again Steve and eprenshaw for sharing. Your experiences have reminded me of the importance of processing my own decisions and judgments in the mtns, so I appreciated reading your accounts.

Again, very glad to know the injured climber is alive and going to be ok.

- Mark

[Another Steve]

In this specific incident, how much time saved and/or risk minimized do you think that having and using the SOS device contributed to the rescue of this injured climber?

From my perspective, eprenshaw having the beacon must have saved at least 4 hours and probably more like 8 hours. The accident was early evening after dark, so even if there is cell reception on top of Snowmass (we didn't check!) nobody would have been able to get up there to make a call until dawn. The alternative is hiking out to a trailhead, driving back to civilization, and calling. From Snowmass, in the dark, I think that's a 4 hour proposition minimum. My brother and I (and it sounds like eprenshaw as well) were parked at the West Maroon Portal, rather than the (I think?) closer trailhead at Snowmass Creek road. So it would have been longer.

I'm with you; being this close to this incident has made me seriously consider investing in a personal locator beacon, which I never really considered seriously before.

Wow Steve, that is crazy. The red jacket stuff sack actually belonged to me. I loaned my red down jacket to the injured climber. The day after the rescue I was able to get it back, but I noticed the stuff sack was missing. The climber's brother said it had blown away when the helicopter came. If it was ripped up, sounds like it wasn't much use anymore. Thanks

Sorry man! It didn't even occur to me that it might have belonged to someone involved in the rescue until you posted the location later. (Derp!) By that point, I had tossed it and taken out the trash already. But yeah, it was ripped, or more precisely, the stitching was undone about halfway down one side. So it would have needed some repair. (That's why we had tossed it out.) If you PM me a mailing address, I'll gladly buy you a replacement as a "thank you." (Sea to Summit or something.)

[eprenshaw]

In this specific incident, how much time saved and/or risk minimized do you think that having and using the SOS device contributed to the rescue of this injured climber?

From my perspective, eprenshaw having the beacon must have saved at least 4 hours and probably more like 8 hours. The accident was early evening after dark, so even if there is cell reception on top of Snowmass (we didn't check!) nobody would have been able to get up there to make a call until dawn. The alternative is hiking out to a trailhead, driving back to civilization, and calling. From Snowmass, in the dark, I think that's a 4 hour proposition minimum. My brother and I (and it sounds like eprenshaw as well) were parked at the West Maroon Portal, rather than the (I think?) closer trailhead at Snowmass Creek road. So it would have been longer.

I would definitely agree 4-8 hours. We considered the options of hiking higher to get cell signal. We would not have wanted to try that at night so it probably would have been 9-10am. And we weren't even 100% that we could get signal. Tried from Buckskin Pass the next day and got nothing. We also considered hiking out which would have been about 4 hours, but we wondered whether we were physically capable after our miles already put in backpacking. I'm sure we could have in an emergency. Best case scenario is that we could have notified SAR at night after hiking out and they still could have sent something early in the am, so not much time lost. But it still would have been a 4-5 hour delay of notification. Worst case is that there was no cell signal on peak and we couldn't hike out until morning. Then the notification could have been about 12 hours after our original 9:30pm distress signal.

The locator beacon definitely gives my family peace of mind because I can send out an OK message with my GPS location. That way they can see where I am and match it up with my itinerary. After this I won't leave without it. There is also a huge factor of whether you are hiking alone or with a partner. Hiking solo it is more critically important. But even with a partner, you could both be involved in an incident. So I see it as extremely valuable.

[frmarstall]

It was my brother who was injured and I'm the one who was with him. First, much thanks to those who helped us out. He is doing ok. He did slip on the rocks that at times would be a waterfall. He broke his upper arm pretty had, as well as his knee (a little chip) and his heel (hairline fracture). They took him to the Aspen Valley Hospital where he had surgery Monday. He came home today.

I stayed with him for a while trying to make it down and making sure he didn't go into shock, also making simple sling for his arm. After he was past shock danger and when it was starting to get dark, I hurried down to get more help.

I yelled help in 3s: "help, help, help". Someone commented that they couldn't tell what I was saying, and maybe yelling for a lost dog. Doing something in 3s is a common signal for help, so even if you couldn't make out the word, you could know it was a cry for help. That said, the sound echoed in the canyon and it would be pretty hard to determine where it was coming from.

eprenshaw gives a good account of what happened. (And we owe he, his friend, and the third guy who came up a debt of gratitude.) The helicopters that came at night first checked the campsite because the guys had checked in there, but the helicopters were able to spot us on the mountain. They just weren't able to do anything till morning. The guys who came up (I was too tired to help at that point) built a little place in the rocks where my brother and I could lie secure for the night without slipping. It was about as comfortable as a bed of sharp medium sized rocks can be, but it did the job. Neither of us got very much sleep, but we were warm and safe.

As for the hikers who were climbing in the morning, we were in a spot where you couldn't have seen us easily from the trail. We had been told you would be coming and were trying to listen, but as long as it was dark, we were keeping bundled in our sleeping bags to stay warm. Where we were, you wouldn't have seen us in our bags, and we weren't looking for you yet, so it doesn't surprise me that you missed us. If we weren't expecting a helicopter to come in the morning, I probably would have made more of an effort to watch for you.

As to the question of how much time the SPOT saved us, if it weren't for that, we would have waited till sunlight then climbed to the top of Snowmass to place a phone call. When we climbed it on Wednesday, I doubt we had a signal before 13,500ft, and didn't have a good signal till the summit. Maybe we would have made sure to contact the Thursday climbers, rather than just listening for a helicopter, so I guess however long it took them to summit is how long it would have taken before a call went out. If the SAR team started hiking at 1:30am (and assembling before that) and they weren't just waiting till sunrise, then the SPOT really saved us about 12 hours.

I do one big trip every year and sometimes another day climb. It sounds like a lot of money to keep a subscription going all year when you're only going to use it once (well, hopefully not use it at all). But it is on my Christmas list now. If this had happened higher up we really would have been in trouble.

After the SAR team lifted my brother out, I still had to return to camp, pack up, and hike out. THey had taken his backpack and the two sleeping bags, but I had a lot of stuff to carry by myself. Fortunately, some hunters on horseback came along about a mile into the hike and graciously packed out all my gear. I was grateful. As tired as I was, I doubt I could have made it over Buckskin pass and to the car the day carrying all the gear.

Lots of people were very good to us on the mountain, at the hospital, the hotel (where I stayed). THank you to everyone.

[rob runkle]

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