Mission Reports: Blanca Peak Fatal

Sunday the 18th, a team from Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery went down to Southern Colorado to recover a vehicle off Blanca Peak. Sadly, this rollover was a fatal accident killing the driver.

Some of the team began making their way towards the recovery Saturday evening, while the rest departed around 5:30 Sunday morning.  Reaching the trailhead around 8:30 they began their way into the scene.  After navigating the obstacle known as “jaws 1,” they reached the XJ around 10:30 AM.

After assessing the scene and coming up with a recovery plan, rigging was underway by 11:30, and winching was underway by noon.  The XJ was back on the trail by 1 PM and setup for tow off the mountain.  They reached Jaws 1 about 3 PM and worked on getting everyone down that obstacle as efficiently as possible.  They reached the trailhead around 7 PM Sunday evening and released the vehicle to the friend of the deceased who was helping coordinate getting this vehicle recovered and off the mountain.

This is not the first fatal incident we’ve had to respond to, and sadly, it won’t be the last.  Please be careful out there!  Freak accidents can and will happen, and some times they are totally out of your control.  But take every means possible to make it home safely.  Even though onlookers tend to heckle you for giving up, there is no shame in attempting an obstacle 2-3 times and then pulling line or stacking rocks to safely get over it.  At the end of the day, EVERYONE COMES HOME!

A huge thank you to our Title Sponsor, The Edge Automotive, for sponsoring this mission.  Please check them out at www.theedgeautomotive.com for all your vehicle modification and maintenance needs.

Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery

We Recover the Rockies!