Mission Logs

SAR Commander, SAR volunteer pilot and Deputy SAR Leader searched by air and land for an overdue party believed to be in Disappointment Valley (West End of County). The missing 58 y.o. male was found dead in his vehicle in the Durango area.

SAR and Sheriff's Deputies responded to assist  Telluride Helitrax with the rescue and recovery of a customer that had fallen head first into a creek while traversing to a helicopter LZ. Her head became wedged under a rock and snow hampering removal. Helitrax Guides worked tirelessly to remove her. Attempts to revive her were unsucessful.

The 50 y.o . female snowboarder died of her injuries in the field and was airlifted out of a remote location in the Middle Fork of Mineral Creek (San Juan County).

An autopsy is scheduled.

A small team consisting os volunteer SAR members and Deputies rescued three young women that lost the Jud Wiebe Trail and wandered into a steep drainage above a cliff overlooking the Town of Telluride and Coronet Creek. The young women called 911 from their cell phones when they realized that they were unable to move safely back out the way they came in and were not dressed or prepared for the coming nightfall.

The women were assisted in their egress. One of the women had to roped off of a precarious ledge above an 80' drop.

A lone, out of town, skier was located in the Bear Creek Drainage after being reported overdue from the ski area.

A skier from North Carolina accidentally skied into Bear Creek from the
bathrooms on top of the Ski Area. When he attempted to hike back out and his
efforts were hampered by deep snow he decided to traverse out with the reasoning
that he would eventually get back to See Forever or another run. Where exactly
he went is unclear but as far as we can tell from the description he gave the
very lucky skier found his way through the "Suicide Chutes", a very sketchy and
dangerous section of Bear Creek. At one point he threw his skies of a cliff of
unknown height and butt slid it catching possibly 15 feet of air and coming out
with just a few scratches on 1 elbow. Ski patrol and the Sheriff's Office
coordinated to help locate the man through several text messages the lost skier
was able to get out to a friend. The man eventually slogged his way to Bear
Creek Road and was found by a Ski Patroller and SAR member. The skier was given
a ride back to the house that he was staying at in Mountain Village and received
a back country lecture on the way. It was decided that he had an Angle or 2 on
his shoulder today.

SAR Deputies and SAR/Paramedics assisted Ouray Mt. Rescue in the recovery of the body of a skier caught in an avalanche and dragged thru a treed section near Cirque Peak. He succumbeed to trauma from the trip thru the trees. Another skier in a party of seven travelling near the San Juan Hut Sytem's Ridgway Hut was injured and evacuated by helicopter. The remaining five members of the group made it safely out of the field.

Helitrax (pilot Chris Templeton) and Olathe Spray Service (pilot Devin Felix) aided in the rescue and recovery with their respective helicopters.

SMSO Deputies and volunteer SAR personnel assisted with the extraction, care and evacuation of five vehicle passengers after the vehicle rolled approximately 150' down a steep embankment. The vehicle left the  icy roadway during a snowstorm. Multiple rope systems were employed by SAR personnel and also the Telluride Vol. Fire Dept. to gain access to and evacuate the five patients to waiting ambulances.

A search was launched for a lost/overdue ATVer. He was located miles from his truck and in Dolores County. He had spent the night after getting stuck and being uanable to extricate in the dark.

SAR began response to a call of persons unaccounted for after their canoe overturned in the frigid waters of Trout Lake. They were located unharmed while SAR was en route.

Deputy responded to an overdue hiker near Alta Lakes. Hiker returned before mission launch.

Deputy was alerted to an overdue hiker on Lizard Head. Hiker arrived before mission launch.

Deputy/SAR members located lost hikers on the Elk Creek Trail. They were driven back to their parked vehicle.

An injured MTBer was evacuated by Telluride EMS and SAR after striking a tree while negotiating a difficult landing. He was treated at the scene and then TMC.

A lost hiker on the Jud Wiebe Trail was given directions, via cell phone, back to the proper trail.

Lost hikers on the Jud Wiebe Trail were led back to safety of their hotel.

An elderly hiker was evacuated from the Bear Creek Drainage with the cooperation of SAR and Telluride EMS.

SAR was put on standby as a hiker extricated a dog from the Bear Creek Canyon. Dog and hiker made it out unscathed.

A Hard Rock 100 was reported overdue after failing to arrive at a set check point. They arrived some hours later after remaing between check points while looking for another participant. SAR team stood down at last minute.

Deputy talked a lost hiker, via cell phone, back onto the Jud Wiebe Trail after they had cliffed themselves out.

An injured hiker in Waterfall Canyon was evacuated by Sheriff/SAR vehicle after badly injuring his ankle. He was taken to the Telluride Medical Center by personal vehicle.

Deputies and SAR volunteers searched for and then escorted two lost hikers out
of the Bridal Veil area.

Deputies and SAR personnel responding to a subject having a medical problem on a
Telluride area trail.  The subject was transported to the TMC.

Deputies and SAR personnel responding to a subject having a medical problem on a
Telluride area trail.  The subject was transported to the TMC.

A Wright's Mesa resident went hiking alone near Oak Hill. During an attempt to
climb up a small cliff a boulder estimated at over 5000 pounds came loose
and fell off the cliff, and the man's legs were caught under it, pinning him to
the ground.

The trapped hiker yelled for help and luckily his cries were heard by a couple
of nearby residents. They found the trapped man and called 911. Norwood Fire
Department volunteers along with Sheriff's deputies were able to move the
boulder with hydraulic extrication equipment normally used to tear open
automobiles. Amazingly the trapped man was not injured as bad as one would
expect.  With the help of rescue personnel he limped up the rocky terrain to the
ambulance. The extent of his injuries is unknown at this time.

A deputy responded the Ski Area for a SAR call. No one in distress was located.
The call was received from a person riding the Gondola.

At about 11:45 AM San Miguel County dispatch received a 911 cellphone call
reporting a climbing accident.  A group of five climbers was traversing the
ridge between Mount Wilson and El Diente when they were struck by falling rocks.
 They reported three were injured:  one with a leg/hip injury, one with a leg
and head injury, and one reported unconscious with a bad head injury.  They were
located just below the 14,000 foot level in very steep and precarious terrain.

The accident site was in Dolores County, and the Dolores County Sheriff's Office
and San Miguel County Sheriff's Office quickly determined San Miguel Search and
Rescue would lead the rescue effort.

A rescue helicopter from Olathe Spray service and a US Army Blackhawk helicopter
from the High Altitude Training Center in Eagle responded.

Unfortunately, before rescuers arrived, Peter Topp, aged 60, succumbed to his
injuries.

San Miguel Search and Rescue members were inserted by helicopter and had to
climb over 800 vertical feet to reach the injured and begin medical treatment. 
More members were shuttled in by helicopter.  Technical rope lowering systems
were constructed to safely lower the injured parties to a safe helicopter
landing zone.

Rescuers had to wait out several violent hail and lightning storms that grounded
the helicopters.

All the injured, plus members of their climbing party, as well as two other
climbers who heard their distress calls and assisted, were flown by helicopter
to the Telluride Airport.  The injured were transported by ambulance to the
Telluride Medical Center.

Continual lighting and rainstorms, as well as rapidly approaching darkness,
almost caused the SAR members to spend the night on the mountain, but a brief
clearing allowed the Blackhawk helicopter to pick them up. 

The surviving injured parties were later transferred from TMC to St. Mary's Hospital via Careflight fixed wing: the male  for a subdural head bleed and abdominal bleed and female for a fractured and dislocated hip.

Deputies responded to the trail system off the top of the gondola to search for
a 10 year boy that had become unaccounted for during a hike. The boy and his
parents were reunited on the trail shortly after the search was initiated.

Deputies searched for a man, visiting from AZ, who became separated from his
friends while fishing. The man wound up spending the night outside in a most
unlikely place and walked out in the morning in an area his friends had begun to
"track" him. The man, who had a visible head wound, had no recollection of the
incident and was transported to the TMC for evaluation.

Deputy/EMTs helped treat and evacuate an injured party that was thrown from a
horse. They were treated on scene and then moved, from an inaccessible area, to
the ambulance by 4X4.

Synopsis:  Telluride area resident reported one of the members of a mushroom
foraging group had gone missing Tuesday afternoon from the Lizard Head Pass
area.  While the reporting party was presenting the pertinent information, the
missing party was located, in fine fettle.

Deputies searched into early morning for an overdue hiker. It was decided, after
checking the reported trail they were hiking and surrounding area, that a larger
search would be initiated at first light. At approximately 0545 hrs. the overdue
party called home and informed them that they were OK and in the MT. VLG.
Alcohol, poor communication (with a loved one) and questionable judgement were
the cause of the search and investigation.

A visitor from out of state reported that some friends who had been hiking were
over due. As deputies started to look into the matter the hikers returned to
their campsite no worse for wear.

A fisherman got lost on the mesa north of the San Miguel River and west of Sanborn
Park Rd. Montrose West End deputies were on other calls so San Miguel deputies
assisted. The fisherman was quickly located and returned to his vehicle.

Deputies responded to the report of an overdue hikers. Hikers returned safely prior to SAR Team deployment.

Synopsis: Members of the San Miguel Sheriff's Office and San Miguel Search and
Rescue assisted the Dolores County Sheriff's Office with the recovery of a
climber whose body was discovered on the south side of El Diente Sunday
afternoon. The climber, identified as 30 year old JOHN ARTHUR MERRILL, of
Cortez, was killed in a fall possibly caused by rockfall from near the top of
the peak. MERRILLS's body was discovered by another party of four climbers near
noon on 26 September, 2010.

SAR was informed of A 911 CALL FROM THE BACKOCUNTRY. it was determined that the call originated in Moab, UT and the cell phone call "bounced" to San Miguel Dispatch.

The body of the pilot from a 2006 aircraft crash was recovered from approximately 800-1000' below the summit (crash site). This recovery concludes a three year effort to recover the fourth and final occupant from the fatal crash.

A helo recon flight was able to spot the body and then insert two Deputy/SAR members to package and short haul the remains from the mountain.

Members support Imogene Race with SAR response

Search for a lost hiker, 56 y.o female, in the West Beaver Creek area. Hiker was to meet husband at set location with vehicle after a short side hike with their dogs. The husband arrived at set location and found wife not to be there. After searching until dark he then called the sheriff's office. SAR was paged to meet the next morning and then responded to join a search including volunteers on horseback and dog teams from neighboring agency (Dolores County) and Olathe Spray Service helicopter (pilot Devin Felix).

The female hiker was found by the helicopter search team in the early afternoon. She appeared to have died of a medical problem. An autopsy revealed that hiker suffered a cardiac event.

Male skier called after becoming "cliffed out" in the Regular Route area adjacent to the new side-country access gate from the ski area into Bear Creek. Gate located at the top of lift 9.

Ski patrol's help, per a standing agreement,  was requested and they were able to lead the 49 y.o. male down the hill without incident.