BOULDER, Colo. (KDVR) — On Saturday, March 26, around 1 p.m., the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a rock climber who had fallen in the area of the Xanadu route on the West Ridge.
Rescuers from the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and the Mountain View Fire Protection District hiked into the area, reaching the patient within approximately 25 minutes of the call.
When located, the patient was on the ground and was found to have suffered severe injuries to their leg, spine, and head.
All of this an hour before the NCAR fire even started a critical response to an injured climber in Eldorado Canyon.
The 36-year-old climber from Longmont was stabilized and then carried approximately one-half mile downhill to an ambulance and transported to a hospital. The rescue took approximately three hours.
KDVR/KWGN caught up with rescue crews to explain the added stressor that the fire added.
Rescuers carrying 75 lbs up a steep hillside to find and retrieve the injured climber. During an already critical operation, they got word through radios that a fire had sparked nearby.
“The tone escalated as we started to learn about the severity of this fire. At one point, we were advised that there was a potential that we may be at risk due to this fire and so certainly that upped the urgency, upped the stress,” said Drew Hildner, at Rocky Mountain Rescue Group.
Meaning logistical changes needed to be made, challenging responders to do more with less.
“We have about 11 different radio [tactical] channels, and certainly the fire needed all of them,” Hildner said.
The group is trained to handle situations under pressure. Selflessly serving others despite the double whammy from mother nature.
“We had concerns about ourselves, our own properties, and our families and friends. Really that’s when your training takes over and your stress inoculation that comes from repeated time on chaotic scenes,” Hildner said. “So all we were getting was little [information] we were hearing through the radios and so we finally got back into cell phone service and learned that quite a few of us were under mandatory evacuation orders.”
Hildner reminded any climbers or hikers in general that the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group is a non-profit. He urges anyone that needs to be rescued should not hesitate to call because they do not charge for rescues and depending on the terrain, getting to you could take hours.