The winter season may not be as busy as the summer in terms of total visitation at Rocky Mountain National Park, but the scaled-down "off-season" staff has stayed plenty busy with rescues. The past week brought a multi-day search for a hiker on an ill-advised attempt to cross the park via Trail Ridge Road; that effort was followed yesterday by the rescue of a climber after a fall in the park's backcountry.
According to park spokesperson Kyle Patterson, rangers were notified of the activation of a "SPOT" tracking device at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 31. Shortly thereafter, rangers received their first 911 call regarding an incident near Black Lake, which is roughly 5.5 miles from the Glacier Gorge Trailhead.
Rangers were on scene two-and-one-half hours from the initial call and learned that Jason Brooks, age 50, from Wheat Ridge, Colorado, was solo climbing when he reportedly took a tumbling fall of about 100 feet onto soft snow. The fall was witnessed by visitors who were at Black Lake.
Brooks received numerous injuries but was ambulatory, and with assistance from rangers was able to move down to an area where an air ambulance was able to land. Flight for Life transported him to Medical Center of the Rockies at 4:15 p.m.
There was good news in this incident for both the victim and rescuers: weather conditions, the time of day and the location allowed for assistance from a helicopter. As the air evacuation took place, personnel from Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue, Larimer County Search and Rescue and Rocky Mountain Rescue were gearing up for the possibility of a lengthy rescue operation.
The forecast for tonight and Monday? A chance of snow and gusty winds.
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