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sharpie
Apr 8, 2004, 6:45 PM
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Anybody hear more about this story?
A friend said he heard last night that these guys decided to rappel down a face but could not see where it ended or how far down it was, when they got to the end of their rope they got stuck and did not know how to acsend. So they dangeled there for hours not knowing where they were or what to do.
From AP:
Stranded Climbers Rescued
Apr 8, 2004 10:14 am US/Mountain
SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (AP)
Two climbers stranded on a Summit County mountain for more than 24 hours are back on solid ground.
Rescuers reached the pair about 12:15 a.m. Thursday. The two were wet and cold, but did not appear to be injured. They were taken to a hospital to be checked out.
The hikers reportedly left Copper Mountain Tuesday, then became trapped on a steep incline -- 1,800 feet above Interstate 70 between Copper Mountain and Dillon.
Rescue officials said the pair had climbed down a rocky, drainage area that had iced over and couldn't get out.
Snow started falling late Wednesday, and the two weren't dressed for cold weather.
Rescuers had to hike through soft, chest-deep snow and up steep terrain before they could perform the technical, high-angle rescue.
From the Rocky:
Rescuers reach men stuck on cliff
By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
April 8, 2004
Rescue crews finally reached two hikers late Wednesday who had been trapped all day on a mountain cliff 1,800 feet above a canyon floor.
The 19- and 21-year-old men, both employees of Copper Mountain Ski Resort, first contacted authorities from their cell phone about 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, saying they could see Interstate 70 but weren't sure where they were.
Search and rescue teams say the two men were below Tenmile Peak near mile marker 197.
Although Summit County Search and Rescue crews found the men on the east side of I-70, they had a hard time reaching them because they were on sheer, vertical rock at about 12,000 feet.
As a result, rescuers spent most of the day trying to figure out how to safely get to the two stranded hikers, deputies said. The men had sleeping bags and some food and told deputies that they were uninjured although one complained his feet were numb.
Rescuers reached them about 9:30 p.m. and were using ropes to try to bring the men to safety.
No one was sure what time the hikers struck out for their adventure, but the pair reported they'd been stuck in the precarious spot about three hours before they called for help, deputies said. The hikers started from the Wheeler Lakes trail head.
Deputies said they think the two men may have hiked several hours before they got into trouble.
Rescue efforts were complicated by weather conditions, with about an inch of snow falling each hour. At last count, about 32 rescuers were involved.
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kman
Apr 8, 2004, 7:03 PM
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:roll: At least they got it right in the press release and called them hikers and not climbers. F'n hikers.
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timstich
Apr 8, 2004, 7:27 PM
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OK, just for fun let's take a stab a figuring out a possible self rescue scenario. One, they have a rope. Also, they obviously had some sort of harness and a rappel device, unless they did this hand over hand, which I've heard of. In any case, if at least one of them had a knife or chipped a sharp rock, they could have chopped the rope and made prussicks from core strands. Granted, this would be tricky, but it sure would beat a 24hr. forced bivvy.
So everyone get out your old ropes and do this for practice. Chop chop.
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sandbag
Apr 8, 2004, 7:32 PM
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In reply to: OK, just for fun let's take a stab a figuring out a possible self rescue scenario. One, they have a rope. Also, they obviously had some sort of harness and a rappel device, unless they did this hand over hand, which I've heard of. In any case, if at least one of them had a knife or chipped a sharp rock, they could have chopped the rope and made prussicks from core strands. Granted, this would be tricky, but it sure would beat a 24hr. forced bivvy. So everyone get out your old ropes and do this for practice. Chop chop.
Instead of forced bivy how about "voluntary near Darwinian interlude".....
;)
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elron
Apr 8, 2004, 7:42 PM
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maybe i missed something, but i didn't see anything in the stories about them being roped up... maybe i read it too fast. if they were roped, how were they rapping? one on each side of the rope?
Kevin
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sharpie
Apr 8, 2004, 7:45 PM
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Maybe a simul-rap? Although from the other information available, it doesn't sound like they were experienced enough to know what a simul-rap is, much less how to do it.
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timstich
Apr 8, 2004, 7:45 PM
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Yeah. I have no idea what gear they had, how many were in the party, etc. No doubt the reporter doesn't know either.
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sharpie
Apr 8, 2004, 7:49 PM
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Yeah, all of the details are pretty sketchy...the first story says they were stranded for more than 24 hours and that rescuers finally reached them at about 12:15 am, the second says after being stranded for 3 hours they made a call at 10:20am and were finally brought down at 9:30 pm (about 14 hours by my count).
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cratercreator
Apr 8, 2004, 8:53 PM
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damd journalists.
one of them must have gotten his info from the sports section
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overlord
Apr 9, 2004, 12:18 PM
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what were they, climbers or hikers????
first it sys climbers and then hikers... if they were hikers, that would explain why they didnt use rope (because they didnt have it).
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innominato
Apr 9, 2004, 1:29 PM
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They weren't climbers, that's for certain. There is no climbing--except for the ice in Officer's Gulch--near Copper Mountain, and no one in their right mind would be in there right now with all the heavy, wet snow the high country has been getting.
Then again, these guys weren't exactly brain surgeons, were they?
I think they were sport hikers. The probably lost their poles.
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banff
Apr 9, 2004, 1:40 PM
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For a additional information check out the "Summit Daily." Good effort to the Summit County Rescue Team and additional mutual aid.
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sharpie
Apr 9, 2004, 2:33 PM
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From Summit Daily:
Hikers delivered from danger in darkness
REID WILLIAMS
April 8, 2004
OFFICER'S GULCH - Mountain rescuers saved two stranded hikers early Thursday, lowering them through the steep ice and rocks of the Tenmile Range in the middle of the night.
Eighteen-year-old David Harper and Edward Greiner, 20, spent more than 36 hours exposed to the elements, pinned on a ridge in the area known as Three Tiers off the Wheeler Trail, just west of Officer's Gulch along Interstate 70.
According to Summit County Search and Rescue spokesman Dan Burnett, the young men were still "on their feet" when rescuers reached them, and the team had them off the cliff face and out of harm's way by 1 a.m. Thursday.
Burnett had initially predicted it would take all night to lower the men through the snow and icy talus fields on the west side of the Tenmile Range, but the effort was expedited by the mountaineers' efficiency at setting up rope belays and safety lines as they broke trail on the way up, he said.
"That saved us numerous hours," Burnett said. "And the fact that these guys were still standing meant we didn't have to lower them down in baskets. It goes a lot faster when they're under their own power. But the really amazing part was the technical prowess showed by the more than 20 people in the field. It really was impressive."
The hikers' ordeal began some time Tuesday when the pair set out on the Wheeler Trail from Copper Mountain. According to the rescuers, Harper and Greiner left the trail, crossed some ridges and became trapped after descending a steep face.
Alpinists call the predicament being "cliffed out" - when hikers descend a steep face, only to find themselves unable to continue up or down because of the rigorous terrain.
Harper and Greiner were able to get cell phone reception briefly Wednesday morning. They called 911 dispatchers about 10:20 a.m. and had just enough time to describe their situation and general location before the phone battery died.
It took the search and rescue team some time to find the men. Twenty rescuers fanned out along the Frisco-to-Copper Mountain rec path, scanning the rock faces with binoculars.
The rescue - which required reinforcements from the Evergreen-based Alpine Search and Rescue Team - took about 14 hours. Harper and Greiner were taken to Summit Medical Center for treatment of possible hypothermia and frostbite.
According to Bev Lilly, a spokeswoman for St. Anthony's Central Hospital and Centura Health Systems - operators of Summit Medical Center in Frisco - the men were treated and released Thursday morning.
"They're probably in a world of hurt," Lilly said. "They're probably itchy and tingly from the cold, but they have all their fingers and toes."
Harper and Greiner could not be reached for comment. The two were recent residents of The Edge, Copper Mountain's employee housing complex, but both have moved out, staff said.
Burnett said the rescue points out classic lessons for wilderness recreationalists.
"If you're going to go out, tell someone where you're going," he said. "It took us hours to figure out where they were."
Be prepared for any weather, too. Rescuers said Harper and Greiner weren't dressed properly for the winter conditions that has rolled across the county in the past three days.
Don't depend on cell phones to save you, either, Burnett said. Cell phone reception is spotty at best in the backcountry, and batteries don't last forever.
"They worked here, and it probably saved their lives," Burnett said. "But it's no substitute for being prepared. Cell phones don't impress us much in mountain rescue."
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sarcat
Apr 9, 2004, 3:10 PM
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In reply to: Cell phones don't impress us much in mountain rescue."
Dang! I was hoping mine was impressive.
Glad they are OK and that it's cleared up they were "hikers" and not climbers.
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erica44
Apr 9, 2004, 3:22 PM
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In reply to: damd journalists. one of them must have gotten his info from the sports section
hey, I take offense to that. I am a journalist, but a miitary journalist. don't worry I hate journalist too. tke 3 journalist, sit them in front of an event. they see the same thing, they hear the same interview, but you get 3 TOTALLY different stories, with messed up facts and everything. its ridiculous, but perception is reality. fortunately, I am told what to write.
In reply to: Cell phones don't impress us much in mountain rescue."
that quote rocks. couldn't have said it better myself.
Erica
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outdoormikeg
Apr 9, 2004, 4:35 PM
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The Vail Daily (which is owned by the same company as the Summit Daily and runs the same stories) said the clowns were hikers.
There is actually some decent climbing in Officer's Gulch. Definately not a destination if you live in the Front Range but nice if you live in Vail or Breck. I believe that the Summit County guide book has a section on Officer's Gulch.
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