Yellowbronco's latest adventure

[BroncoMama]

I thought I would share my husband's most recent adventure with everyone. It all began Thursday night at 7:00 when the phone rang. It was the wife of Chris' best friend, JD. She said that JD needed Chris to come out and get their brother in law who was stuck. They were having a family reunion and had gone on a hike to a waterfall. He had climbed up a mountain to get some pictures and due to a rock slide, was unable to climb back down. Search and Rescue was there, but they weren't able to get him down. Chris grabbed his backback with all his climbing gear, helmet, rope, and a hot dog and ran out the door. By the time Chris got to the parking lot, the BIL (Caleb) had been hanging on the side of the mountain for 7 1/2 hours. There were 2 teams of SAR present and one of the members had already told JD that it looked like the mountain would be taking Caleb. Needless to say, JD was beside himself and the family was pretty hysterical. To get to Caleb, they had to hike up a fishing trail that went around the waterfall and 2 miles up the mountain. Thankfully, JD is a human packhorse and was able to get the majority of the equipment up there! With floodlights illuminating the mountain, the situation was assessed. Due to the roar of the waterfall, no one could hear Caleb so his condition was unknown. He was dressed in a t shirt and shorts and hadn't eaten since breakfast. It had rained early in the afternoon for about 45 minutes, but then the sun had come back out so everyone hoped he wasn't wet. Another storm was rolling in and it was getting chilly. No one from SAR was willing to go down the mountain and get him, their response was that a team from Durango could come in the morning. Chris got out his harness and volunteered to do the rappelling. Once the pulleys were set up, Chris dropped off the cliff face about 200 feet and missed Caleb completely. He needed to be 50 feet over and due to the sheer rock face, he couldn't traverse it. Back up he went. After moving the ropes, he dropped down again, only to miss Caleb by 15 feet. Knowing he only had one shot left, Chris got ready to go down the last time. The rock was so loose, he'd already been hit in the head twice and was concerned about the rope causing a rock slide. There were no other options, so he made the 200 foot rappel once again. Thankfully, he dropped down right next to Caleb! Caleb was in surprisingly good condition and was able to actually help Chris get a harness on him. Chris got him all tied in and hooked up to the rope and the team on the top of the mountain pulled them both up after Caleb had been hanging in one position for 13 hours. At this point, I had gotten a phone call saying Caleb was okay, they had gotten him up. Everyone thought the crew would just spend the night up on the mountain since by this point it was almost 2:00 in the morning. I just laughed and said they obviously didn't know Chris and JD. They would get Caleb down even if they had to carry him. Sure enough, JD and Chris got some water in Caleb and they all made the hike back around to the waterfall and then down the mountain. They arrived in the parking lot about 3:30 in the morning to a very grateful family and Caleb's nearly hysterical wife. Chris rolled in about 5:00 on the end of one heck of an adrenaline rush.

Due to the hysteria, no one took any pictures, but there is a YouTube of Caleb when he first started climbing up. If you pause at 16 seconds, you can see the cliff at the top that Chris had to rappel off of. Caleb was about 200 feet below the cliff band. You can also see a bit of the rock slide at 30 seconds as well.

[YOUTUBE] <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yReLKedF1KI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yReLKedF1KI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Meat_]

I still hear "I'll go over the edge guys..." in Chris's manly voice

Glad you were able to find some kindof visual for the cliff.

 

[Badbuggy]

You left out the part where he changed clothes in a phone booth.

Way to go Super Chris!

 

[Meat_]

...There were 2 teams of SAR present and one of the members had already told JD that it looked like the mountain would be taking Caleb...

That's pretty pathetic.

 

[Jeremy]

this world needs a few more people like your hubby. he is a badass.

 

[yellowbronco]

The SAR guys were a good group of guys, it's always interesting to go rec climbing with people you have just met, a whole other deal when it's a rescue (at night). We all meshed really well, I was able to trust the rope crew and belayer almost immediately.

 

[Cody]

so they just didn't have anyone willing to go down the rope? Is that like dope on a rope?

 

[Jinx]

The rock was so loose, he'd already been hit in the head twice

It is a good thing he probably had his Krispy Kreme hat on...:greg:

Way to go Chris!!!!

 

[gripguru]

Great story. Good job.

Why was the search and rescue team unwilling to make the descent/rescue?

What do you do for a living? Write for the newspaper?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Way to step up!

 

[JoeT]

great story. Good job.

Why was the search and rescue team unwilling to make the descent/rescue?

x2

 

[SAMI]

Way to go Chris...

So what I gather from the story, is that the SAR team was willing to just watch your BIL fall off the ledge rather than someone drop down and attempt a rescue? (ref: one of the members had already told JD that it looked like the mountain would be taking Caleb)

 

[StrobeNGH]

Way to go Chris...

So what I gather from the story, is that the SAR team was willing to just watch your BIL fall off the ledge rather than someone drop down and attempt a rescue? (ref: one of the members had already told JD that it looked like the mountain would be taking Caleb)

Yeah, that comment and the lack of any attempted rescue leaves a sour taste in my mouth too.

I know that the SL County SAR teams have been having a hard time lately, but jeez . . .

 

[BroncoMama]

It is a good thing he probably had his Krispy Kreme hat on...:greg:

That's what gives him his super powers!

Way to go Chris...

So what I gather from the story, is that the SAR team was willing to just watch your BIL fall off the ledge rather than someone drop down and attempt a rescue? (ref: one of the members had already told JD that it looked like the mountain would be taking Caleb)

That's pretty much the long and the short of it. They had a climber in the first group that went out, but it was too extreme for her. Better that she realize her limits then to get into trouble as well. What bothers me is that from the get-go, JD was telling SAR to call Chris. They actually told him they had and just couldn't get a hold of us. Bull-hooky, I was home AND have caller ID. My impression of the situation was that once they realized the gravity of the situation, their egos couldn't let them call in someone who had the skills to get the job done. Durango is only an hour away from us and they could've gotten a team over before it even got dark, instead they said they would wait until the morning. Thankfully, SAR didn't have any issue with Chris coming in. I guess there was some talk on the radio about the "civilian", but they had no problems dropping him off a cliff in the dark!

It's a tough boat because it's all volunteer, but I definitely feel SAR could've handled the situation a lot differently. Needless to say, they all approached Chris about becoming a member!

 

[Tacoma]

Right on!

I have some issues with your local SAR myself, having been trained in high-angle rescue many moons ago. If they were that concerned, they shouldn't have let Chris go EITHER, which makes me think they're sissies.
All's well that ends well though, so good deal, and 5687pts for Chris for boldly going where he was needed, and jugging up a good amount of rope a couple times. That is hard work!!!

:nearbeer: for Chris!

 

[Bart]

First off, BEEG CONGRATS to Chris and his cajones. You're my hero.

Second, sounds like the local SAR second guessed themselves too many times and made a dumb statement or two in the mean time. It's better they didn't put themselves into a bad situation, but it sounds like they weren't equipped for the event and wouldn't admit it until later.

Third, What the he|| was Caleb thinking?????????

 

[yellowbronco]

so they just didn't have anyone willing to go down the rope? Is that like dope on a rope?

Yup, and I'm the dope.

Great story. Good job.

Why was the search and rescue team unwilling to make the descent/rescue?

Way to go Chris...

So what I gather from the story, is that the SAR team was willing to just watch your BIL fall off the ledge rather than someone drop down and attempt a rescue? (ref: one of the members had already told JD that it looked like the mountain would be taking Caleb)

The main isue was that they only had 3 people with climbing experience and they needed one more competent climber. We had a raise/ lower team with three on the main line, a belayer on the second line, and another rappel down for edge protection.

First off, BEEG CONGRATS to Chris and his cajones. You're my hero.



Third, What the he|| was Caleb thinking?????????

Thanks Bart, don't go getting stuck on any cliffs and expect me to bail your a$$ out!

As for Caleb, he did what so many of us have done; don't look before you leap! You get so excited about going up you forget that coming down is a lot harder!

 

[yellowbronco]

I wrote a very long, Pulitzer Prize winning post the other night but I accidently deleted it, so I am going to try again tonight...

When I got the call I was minding my own business mowing the lawn, Tara said JD needed my help and to bring my climbing gear. I jumped in the truck and made my way as quick as I could up to the falls. When I got there I was immediatly shuttled across the river where we were to rendezvous with JD.

The hike to the extraction zone is a brutal mile and half trail that switch-backs a 1,000 vertical ft to the top of the cliffband. From there it's another half mile back down an extremley loose, steep hillside with a 300 ft cliff at the bottom (note to self :don't fall).

Once I got there we were about 200 ft above Caleb, although we couldn't hear or see him. There were only 2 SAR guys there at that point and the decision was made that I would go down to get him. Shortly, JD arrived with the rest of the team, it must have been about 9:30pm. They set up all the ropes and pulleys and we were ready!

I thought I might have more difficulty with anxiety than what I actually did, believe me it's not like I wasn't scared! I think knowing that someones life was on the line cancelled out my own concerns though. I clipped into the main and belay lines and signaled that I was ready to go!

It took three attempts before I was able to reach Caleb, the first two were nasty gullies interspersed with short vertical drops which made going very slow. I had Terry (SAR field leader) doing edge protection for me, which is basically placing a plastic rope guide over the nastiest rocks so the rope won't get damaged.

Rappeling at night in a loose rock infested gully isn't exactly how I would recommend getting your kicks, but for the time being that's where I was. At one point on my first decent I heard Terry yell "ROCKS" and then a shower of rocks came down, a couple of them found my helmet thudding against the polycarbonate shell and then tumbling a few hundred more feet down to the river.

At this point I was quite a ways down, so I radioed to the ground crew for a location on Caleb. They said "traverse down river about 50 ft", no go, so I had to go back up. The next attempt brought me to within 15 ft of him but I was stopped by a 30 ft vertical wall, Rats!! The side of that mountain is like a maze with gullies and walls and formations that can't be seen from above or below. I knew I had about one shot left in me so it better be the one this time!

We ended up having to move the belay line to a new postion to decrease drag which gave me a chance to rest up. Soon I was headed back down a not quite as steep but the loosest gully of the lot. Several boulders threatened to dislodge so every step was agonizingly placed. Which didn't stop a rock from coming down and hitting me square on the kneecap! (ouch) About 150 feet down I finally spotted Caleb about 50 ft below me! No one had any contact with him for going on 13 hrs so I had no idea of his condition. I yelled down " I'm coming down, almost there" to which he replied "OK". I knew then he was concious and it was going to be alright.

The ascent only took about 10 minutes and was quite a blur. Soon enough we were on top with "good jobs" and pats on the back for everyone. It was about 1:30am. We hydrated Caleb and he decided he wanted to try and do the hike out, so we arrived back at the staging area at 3:30am to the ambulance and about 20 of his relatives cheering! It was an amazing moment that won't be soon forgotten.

So ends my tale, where good prevails and death is cheated one more time. I imagine Caleb is back in Cali with his lovely wife telling tales of his harrowing 13 hrs trapped on the side of a mountain, thankful of every breath that he takes. I got offered a position with Search and Rescue, I'm considering.... And everything ended well, that's really all you can ask for, right?

 

[Tacoma]

That's awesome.

Setting up for a rescue like that is a lot of work, as is climbing up and down. The stress of trying to get to someone in need adds to it, too. I think you did a great job.

 

[gripguru]

I got offered a position with Search and Rescue, I'm considering.... And everything ended well, that's really all you can ask for, right?

That is awesome, made me look up our SAR in Boise and will be talking with them too.