Summary of 2010 Activities

Rocky Mountain Rescue experienced one of the busiest years in our 63-year history. RMR responded to 149 calls with an unusually high number of missions where rescuers fielded (106). 10% of those missions were mutual aid to Rocky Mountain National Park or nearby counties. Tabular annual summary (100 KB PDF, 1 page); Call locations map

The year started on a sad note, on January 10th, Skip Green, who had been associated with RMR for 57 of the group's 63 years, died of leukemia. Skip's last mission was in the fall of 2009.

Missions of note for 2010 included:

Rescuers manuevering the litter with patient down the wall,
Eldorado Canyon SP, June 26, 2010 Click to enlarge

• 6-Feb: Evidence search for the NTSB after a mid-air plane collision. RMR conducted an extensive search for wreckage and remains over three operational periods, assisted by Front Range Rescue Dogs, Larimer County Search and Rescue and Arapahoe Rescue Patrol. Media coverage of crash.
• 19-Feb: Evacuated an injured skier from the Yankee Doodle Lake area during an evening snowstorm after he used his ham radio repeater to contact a ham operator over 100 miles away. The search and evacuation utilized the resources of RMRG, Alpine Rescue Team, and Eldora Ski Patrol.
• 26-Jun: Mid-wall pick-off and evacuation of a simul-climbing team on the Redguard route in Eldorado Canyon State Park. The critically injured climber fell 140 feet and was left hanging mid-wall, while the uninjured climber was unable to self-extricate. Utilizing mutual aid from Alpine Rescue Team the pick-off and vertical-to-scree evacuation took three hours.
• 21-Aug: Evacuated an experienced but critically injured mountaineer from Little Pawnee peak after a 200-foot tumbling fall. Flight For Life, Colorado Army National Guard, and Front Range Rescue Dogs assisted 30 RMR members in evacuating the patient from a loose and dangerous gully high up on the peak. RMR responded to two other calls during this evacuation.
• 25-Sep: Mid-wall shoulder relocation and subsequent evacuation of an injured climber from the middle of the Red Garden wall (Upper Ramp at Upper Ruper) in Eldorado Canyon.

Other activities of note included:

• 8-May: RMRG, along with four other Colorado mountain rescue teams, was awarded a rare Valor Award from the National Association for Search and Rescue for the July 27, 2009 rescue of an injured climber from Crestone Peak. The award has only been given twice since 1977. See award nomination (0.5 MB pdf) and Daily Camera story
• 11-15 Sept: RMRG and Summit County Rescue Group hosted visitors from the Sichuan Mountaineering Association's Rescue Team during their SAR exchange to the US.
• Oct: RMRG hosted a regional MRA Man-Tracking course, attended by three Rocky Mountain Region MRA teams and local law enforcement.
• Performed an extensive investigation of a June 22, 2010 climbing accident fatality in Eldorado Canyon caused by a climbing rope failure, Yellow Spur Rope Failure Investigation.
• RMR continued its long-standing and highly-productive research and development program.