Since the coronavirus began spreading in Colorado, volunteer search and rescue teams have been sounding alarms about what a dangerous mountain mission might look like with a potentially lethal contagion complicating the operation. It was only a matter of time before one Front Range team found out.
About 20 volunteer members of the Alpine Rescue Team — which operates in Jefferson, Clear Creek and Gilpin counties — last week rescued a 26-year-old man who had camped at St. Mary’s Glacier the night before and apparently fell while hiking on steep snow and ice without an ice ax or crampons. Seven members of the team came in close contact with the victim, according to Dawn Wilson, ART’s public information officer.
Meanwhile, members of the Alpine Rescue Team don’t know if they were exposed to coronavirus on the St. Mary’s Glacier mission, and Wilson is going to have to spend hundreds of dollars on equipment that was ruined during the rescue.
If you'd like to help support our Search and Rescue teams, please purchase a Colorado Search and Rescue card.
They cost only $3 a year ($12 for five years), and $2 of the $3 (or $9 of the $12) goes to the teams for costs they incur on rescues.
You can also donate directly
to Alpine Rescue Team for their losses on this mission and to support their future missions.
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