Hi Chris.

We met at a birthday party in September and I felt terrible when I heard of your accident. I am very relieved to hear that you are healing well!

Rocky Mountain Rescue also came to my aid when I decked at Castle Rock and shattered my radius bone. They actually arrived before the ambulance, and my accident was on Labor Day (a few years ago). They all left their own holiday parties to come to help me. I will be forever grateful for their care. Bless those guys!

The accident in Eldorado Canyon on April 27, 2008 raised an interesting series of questions in internet forums regarding the ensuing rescue effort, and about mountain rescue operations and techniques more broadly. Many of these questions are addressed in our “Operational FAQ”. Because rescues often benefit from the participation of bystanding climbers, we encourage those of you who are interested to review this information, with the hope that it will make it easier for you to assist us should the occasion arise.

We have posted a narrative account of the rescue on April 27. Historically we have tried to publicize lessons-learned from climbing accidents, when the lessons are significant and not obvious. In the case of this particular accident, the climbers involved have addressed the lessons-learned better than we can; however, due to interest in the climbing community we though it worthwhile to capture the events of the rescue, and the lessons-learned, into a single document.

If you find that our FAQ or our description of the April 27 rescue lead you to additional questions, feel free to contact RMRG. If you have interest in dedicating your time to assist lost and injured hikers, bikers, climbers and other people in need in the outdoors of Boulder County, we are always looking for new members. All of our meetings and practices are open to the public, and our schedule can be found at: http://www.rockymountainrescue.org/get_involved/CurrentTrain>>>>> (always subject to change due to rescue responses).

I want to express my personal gratitude to all who have said supportive words about RMRG on this forum.

Cordially,

Tim Holden
Group Leader
Rocky Mountain Rescue Group

Thanks for posting this, Tim. It answered a lot of questions I had formed over the years seeing rescues done in Eldorado. It's pretty clear to me now that the rigging choices your group has made over time have proven themselves to be the best options. I thought about trying to take a litter down the Redgarden trail by foot and realize what a disaster that would be. You take one foot off that trail and you are reeling in loose scree. Small landslides on the whole scree slope happen every weekend, sometimes causing boulders to bounce a ridiculously long way downhill.