The Ultimate Lifesavers
Written By: Roger Schaefer
Whether you are leaving the backcountry access gate atop Gold Hill, kayaking the San Miguel River, or climbing one of the local 14ers, San Miguel’s Search and Rescue (S&R) team is in the back of your mind. Wind, rain, snow, ice, rockfall, avalanche or shine, Eric Berg and his expertly trained team will do their best to get you out of a bad spot. San Miguel’s S&R team is one of the finest in the nation.
For 30 years, Eric Berg has been the mission coordinator for S&R. In 1980 he was hired as a deputy sheriff and given the responsibility to develop a S&R team for the county. With an annual budget of $600, little training and using his personal climbing gear, Eric’s first few years were rough, but the need for S&R was there. Within a few months of assuming this role, Eric had to deal with his first avalanche fatality on Dallas Divide. No one takes S&R more seriously than Eric. S&R member Jared Asdel says of him, “I’ve seen that guy do a lot of serious life saving without batting an eye…He gets things done.”
In the three decades S&R has been under Eric’s tutelage, it has evolved to become an organization with five sheriffs, 25 volunteers and 100 times the budget with which it started. “I have tremendous pride in this group…they are the best group of people around,” beams Eric. The team has to be the best because San Miguel County encompasses a vast array of different geographic and climactic features. The snow- pack here is one of the most unstable in the nation, the rivers are commercially boated, the highways have many dangerous drop-offs, and there are extensive 4x4 trails throughout the county. These mountains have the highest concentration of peaks over 14,000-feet in the lower 48 states. There are large hunting regions, numerous wilderness areas for hiking and camping, and there is even desert on the west end of the county. Rescues and body recoveries have been performed in all of these topographical situations.
Every year the mission types are different; some years there are a lot of calls for missing hunters because of bad weather in the fall, while in others there are more missions for people climbing the 14ers. A big run-off can mean more rescues on the San Miguel River. Last year there were two fatal 4x4 car accidents on the mountain passes for the first time in many years. Of the roughly 80 missions S&R executes every year, there has always been a need for winter missions in Bear Creek. Every winter, skiers and snowboarders either get caught in avalanches or lost in Bear Creek. Some victims are lucky enough to be rescued the same day the call comes in, but others spend a cold night stranded above a cliff or even perish.
Missions into Bear Creek are very treacherous for the S&R team. In the last century, more rescuers have died than the people they were actually trying to rescue. This is a statistic Eric Berg considers very carefully when planning a mission. “My first consideration is that I come out alive; my second is that my team comes out alive; the last consideration is rescuing or recovering the victim,” says Eric. There have been winters when bodies have had to be left up there until spring because the risk of losing several S&R members to recover one body is too great.
“A worst case scenario is a survivor in Bear Creek. It creates all kinds of management issues and hazards,” says Eric. There are many factors to weigh when evaluating a mission. If the victim is the result of an avalanche, then obviously there will be an avalanche danger to the rescue mission. There are many places where slides cross the ingress and egress paths to the victim. The team is at risk the whole time they are up there. They try to shoot video of the area before meeting to discuss the risk/benefit ratio of different options. The Telluride Ski Patrol has always been a major player and of valuable aid in these missions. All safety and logistical issues must be resolved before the team risks itself.
Many of the missions have necessitated the use of a helicopter. It sends a shiver down many skiers’ backs to hear the rotors of a helicopter in Bear Creek. “That could have been me,” crosses everybody’s mind. Helicopter rescues are very technical and have forced the team to learn new methods from the best in the country.
San Miguel S&R is well-versed in all disciplines of backcountry rescue. With the help of the Telluride Ski Patrol, Mike Friedman of Telluride Heli-trax, and some other very knowledgeable locals, the S&R team has become proficient at technical rescues. Eric Berg credits Antoine Savelli, among others, for having “brought us out of the Stone Age and exposed us to technical helicopter rescue procedures.” Antoine is an Ophir resident who was formerly in the French Alpine Corps. Larry Hopkins, a local boater, encouraged Eric to take training courses in swift-water rescue techniques taught on the Arkansas River. Eric has also trained with the military in Fort Carson to learn hoist operation. Many members take training courses all over the U.S. They bring this knowledge back and get the team up-to-date. If one member is particularly experienced in the environment of a mission, such as the river, that person will take a leading role.
The team is comprised of sheriffs and volunteers. The sheriffs undergo training each year and the volunteers attend night training sessions, often in inclement weather. Eric appreciatively noted that, “Volunteers give up their time, sacrificing relationships sometimes, to come and help people in the backcountry. That is a really noble group of people.” The volunteers all have other jobs and commitments but, when their pagers go off, saving a life becomes their top priority. They are on call 24 hours a day everyday. Those of us who do extreme sports have more peace-of-mind knowing that these munificent individuals might save us if something goes wrong in the backcountry. Thank you!
What does it take to be a volunteer? Eric says, “Common sense is the most important qualification to become a S&R volunteer.” Fortunately there are many people in this region with backcountry, mountaineering, climbing and river experience, so there is a good pool of applicants. Many members of S&R have gone beyond their requirements and become EMT certified or paramedics. Knowledge of backcountry sports is a valuable asset for a team member. S&R member Jared Asdel became part of S&R because he “wanted to be a part of something worthwhile. Many times over people would have died, if S&R hadn’t been there. Folks are very happy and thankful to see the team.” With well-trained volunteers and dedicated sheriffs, San Miguel’s S&R team has become one of the finest teams in the nation. The team has the credentials to back it up, too.
The team was invited to compete in the Blitz 2002 Rescue Competition, an S&R challenge. The event occurred at an open pit gold mine in California with teams from all over the country. Eric boasts, “Just to be one of the teams invited was quite an honor.” Of the eight teams, San Miguel’s was the only team comprised of volunteers rather than paid members. Twelve- year S&R veteran Dean Giampietro was the team leader. The event lasted three days. Each day the team was given a course they had to get a Rescue Randy through. Rescue Randy resembles a crash test-dummy and “is the heaviest 170 pounds you’ve ever lifted,” says Eric. To win, the team had to safely transport their victims, also known as litters, down shear-rock faces, across talus fields, over water and straight back up more cliffs as fast as possible.
To train for the competition, the team went out to Canyonlands National Park, outside of Moab. Their hard work paid off. The team didn’t just win the competition, Eric says, “They kicked butt!” Dean continues, “We were twice as fast as the second place finisher.” Dean feels the success of the team was due to the extreme nature of their home terrain, being in the best shape, and the diverse knowledge of its members. Most volunteers have practical experience with the ropes and other equipment used by the team.
It is Colorado State Law that makes the Sheriff’s department responsible for S&R, so it is a funded part of San Miguel County’s budget. Besides government funds, S&R relies on donations. There are fundraising events every year, organized by volunteers to encourage donations. The helicopters used for rescue missions cost thousands of dollars an hour. One difficult rescue can cripple the S&R budget for the year. A step backcountry travelers can take to help mitigate the impact of their endeavors on the county budget is to purchase a Colorado Search and Rescue Card. The card costs only three dollars a year. The state funds it generates are used to cover S&R mission costs and support volunteers. Whether you are hiking, biking, camping, climbing, etc…you should have one.
Most of the people who live here do so to be close to all of the superb recreational opportunities we have. Unfortunately, when you play with fire sometimes you get burned. It is nice to know that when this happens and an emergency call is made to the sheriff, 25 pagers go off on the hips of S&R members throughout the county. These benevolent individuals are an essential part of our community.
