Maroon Bells Rescue

Threads related to Colorado mountaineering accidents but please keep it civil and respectful. Friends and relatives of fallen climbers will be reading these posts.
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B_2
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Re: Maroon Bells Rescue

Post by B_2 »

gonefishing05 wrote:B2, curious how you called your rescue in. Sorry if I missed it.
Sorry for the delay...
We used a Garmin Inreach. It was so important for us that we could communicate with dispatch. We would have ended up in a lot more trouble if we had used my old PLB brick and just sat there to wait for a ground SAR team. We were almost 7 miles in and at 13,200'. We had supplies but we were really beat up and 20 min in I was fighting off shock.
The fact that we could SOS and give our specific location, that it was class 3/4 loose terrain, altitude, injuries, that we had supplies but did not feel we could wait for ground rescue and furthermore that it would be unsafe, send the heli, that we had an orange emergency blanket to signal with.
The whole rescue was flawless and took about 3 hours. And the rain started at 3.1 hours.
Very lucky, grateful and thankful.
Sleep?! Sleep when you're dead...
Update: I wrote that in 2008. Now I really love sleep - like, a lot.
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B_2
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Re: Maroon Bells Rescue

Post by B_2 »

And thanks all for the support and concern!! I was a little afraid to post because I've seen how some of these convos go...

Sometimes I feel guilty because we caused all this fuss and risk to others and I wonder if we could have gotten out, but we keep coming to no. We were just too disabled to descend that terrain safely and would have fallen again trying.

We are really doing miraculously well all things considered two weeks out. I still am having concussion symptoms and a pretty sore and weak shoulder, but yesterday my ortho consult only found a possible small fracture, and a grade II separation which does not require surgery for now, and my rotator cuff is intact! This after a 15 foot fall onto rocks! Well the other soft tissue is blasted but I am going to see if I can stabilize it enough to avoid surgery entirely. (I know a few good PTs, lol) My husband's injuries are doing well also but he is having some residual intense aches and pains and fatigue.

I've got a big a$$ bill from life flight now, but various insurances are going to take a bite out of it - AAC being one, and some accident insurance my husband has. I was so excited I thought I had signed up for the Garmin coverage ($19 for 100K annual!!) but something went wrong when I registered and that did not actually happen. I would highly recommend getting that to anyone!

If anyone wants to read the gory details, friend me on FB. As I'm sure you will all want to have easier access to hike with me now! :lol:
https://www.facebook.com/becky.williams ... 1026596204

Stay safe friends, may the odds forever be in your favor! :-D
Becky
Sleep?! Sleep when you're dead...
Update: I wrote that in 2008. Now I really love sleep - like, a lot.
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gonefishing05
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Re: Maroon Bells Rescue

Post by gonefishing05 »

Glad to hear inReach worked well for you as that’s what I have.

Curious about your bill for flight for life. I’ve been told by my health insurance company that it would be billed the same way that an ambulance would be. Was this not the case for you? Thanks.
onebyone
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Re: Maroon Bells Rescue

Post by onebyone »

"s**t happens"

Yup, it's sometimes as simple as that.
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