Mission Reports: Deckers and Steven’s Gulch

Over the weekend Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery responded to multiple snow recoveries in the high country. Not all were photographed, but conditions on trails are often catching people off guard.

First one featured was down near deckers. A Jeep JL slid off a private access road to some property that was inaccessible by commercial tow. We worked with the owner to gain access and recover their vehicle. The jeep was off the trail and down the embankment just a bit, but the team rigged up a pendulum style pull and was able to get the jeep back onto the road. Total operation time from 1st departure to last arriving back home was approximately 8 hours.

Second recovery was up steven’s gulch. A ram 2500 had slid off the road and was unable to get back onto the hard pack snow under its own power. This was a late-night operation which had the team rolling out at around 7 PM, and had the last responder home just after 2:30 Sunday morning.

Remember conditions can change rapidly this time of year. Trails may have traction in the morning when going in, and be totally frozen over with ice on the way out in the afternoon. Tire chains help, adjusting tire pressures for a bigger footprint often provide more grip, and having an emergency kit in your vehicle with extra food, water, heat source, etc can be the difference between a comfortable night in a vehicle, to a very dangerous night if you’re at a steep enough angle to not have fuel reaching the pump.

We wanted to share some of the dangers that we also encounter, albeit extremely rarely on missions, but it does happen. Another operation that took place last night after the super bowl required some assistance from Boulder County Sheriff’s Dept. Once one scene, the parties involved were obviously under the influence and non-cooperative with the team. In the process of staging for the recovery, we had a couple responders also get hung up in the snow which provided ample time for an assist from BCSO. Once BCSO arrived for the assist, it was also discovered that one of the parties was in possession of a firearm while intoxicated. At that point our team turned total control of the scene over to the sheriff’s dept where at least one party was taken into custody.

After all of this settled down, we also had to assist the sheriff’s dept in getting their vehicles back on pavement. Some quick airing down of tires and traction boards did the trick. Once back on the highway, the team assisted with filling their tires back up, debriefed the situation and returned to their homes. The last responding member was home and warm shortly after 3 AM Monday the 14th.We are extremely grateful for the swift response of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department, and for the assist for safety’s sake on a situation that could have gone downhill extremely quick. Our volunteer responder’s safety is paramount and takes precedence over everything else.

Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery

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