Published by the Summit Daily in 2008 You could call Dan and Glen the odd couple, if you were so inclined. One of them always approached things analytically, the other philosophically. That’s what made it so funny that Mark sent them out as a team of two that day. We were looking for a party of three campers, all in their sixties, who had left camp for a day hike from Tipperary Lake yesterday morning and never returned. The others in their group had been up all night looking for them and had finally hiked out to Heeney to call 911 the next morning. Glen had already looked at a map and calculated a probable search area. Since it was unlikely the hikers would go out to explore an area they’d already been in, he thought they might hike around the lake, which could lead them into a swampy valley…
Published by Summit Daily News, 2006 I looked at my watch for the third time in fifteen minutes. Four o’clock. My toes hurt from gripping the narrow ledge…
We could see the Flight for Life helicopter circling above, looking for a landing spot. There’s always something more exciting about a rescue when the chopper shows up;…
When I arrived, it seemed like the entire county was there; Sheriff’s Office deputies, Red White & Blue Fire Department, the ambulance service. No one seemed to want…
Published by the Summit Daily in 2007 I had never been so cold in my life. After a couple hours of riding, getting stuck, digging out and riding…
Published by Summit Daily News on 10-14-2008 My hair was half cut when the pager went off. “All available search and rescue members, report to the Peru Creek…
It was Matt’s first mission, and all things considered, I thought he was hanging pretty tough. He and Mike James and I stood in a football huddle, bent…
“Is your name Kenneth?” I asked, kneeling beside a stupefied-looking man sprawled across the trail. I was careful to keep a certain distance; we’d been told that the…
Pam was starting to scare me. Not everything she said made sense, and her face was kind of puffy. “I think I’ll pick some of these pretty blue…
We were standing at the bottom of the American Flyer lift, chattering excitedly about our end-of-season party, when the call went out. A few of the women from…
The first thing everyone seems to want to know is whether I thought the course was unsafe, so I’ll start with that. The short answer is NO. Rock…
Originally published in Marathon and Beyond Magazine, July/August 2005 Daniel DesRosiers stood on a picnic table, surrounded by 55 runners, outside The Lodge in Jay, Vermont. Something about…
Originally published in Adventure Sports Magazine, 2004 Race Director Todd Olsen likes to throw a new twist into every race, and this year’s Wasatch Adventure Race in Provo,…
When Shawn got up and went out for more food, I nabbed his seat. I’d been eyeing it for a while—it had a small heater underneath it. We…
Originally published in Adventure Sports Magazine, March 2004 It can’t be easy, being Marc Bender, captain of Team Fred. With an adventure racing wife, a nine-year-old daughter, and…
When we arrived in Rescue Three, lights still flashing, the crowd of Chaffee County rescuers and Sheriff’s Office personnel standing in clusters on the dirt road looked up…
Everyone was too busy to talk to me when I arrived, but it was easy to piece together the chain of events. The woman they were working on…
Mark was beginning to stumble, I noticed. Sweat poured down his face and into his eyes. The sun was mercilessly hot, and we were out of water. Les…
I was only half asleep. Was that my own body shaking uncontrollably, or Greg’s? There was no way to sleep in this miserable cold. I had a vague…
“OK, before I head out—everyone has to say their favorite part of the race,” Mike said. Mark and I exchanged bemused glances. It was such a Mike thing…