Colrado hiker billed $10,000 for rescue

[Nightwalker]

http://tinyurl.com/2qjqre
© Copyright 2007 United Press International, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

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GOLDEN, Colo., June 14 (UPI) -- A hiker rescued Tuesday after hurting his ankle on a steep Colorado hillside may feel the pain in his pocketbook -- he could be charged more than $10,000.

Golden firefighters led the rescue effort in Clear Creek Canyon even though David Seals was trapped outside the city's jurisdiction, said KCNC-TV in Denver. It took rescue crews several hours to lower the Kansas man 600 feet.

Sabrina D'Agosta, Golden's communications manager, said taxpayer money is used for rescues within the city limits.

"Our collection rate is fairly low," D'Agosta told KCNC-TV. "It's about 20 percent of the time, and we negotiate in cases of hardship and we do also send a lot of those to collections."

The hiker also will be billed $2,400 by the West Metro Fire Department, which had nine people work seven hours of overtime.

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Note: If this was the wrong place to post this, I'm sorry. It seemed of general interest, though on the "wrong" trail.

[mweinstone]

standard fare. mountain resques drain local squads and so this is where were at in our day. break a bone in the wilderness, loose your ass.

[RedneckRye]

If he had spent $3 before he went out, he could have saved $9997.
Colorado has a search and rescue insurance program, I think it is called a CORSAR card. I paid $3 for mine when I did the Colorado Trail in 2003, so it might be $4 or $5 now. I picked mine up at a gas station that sold fishing licenses, the lady behind the counter told me that the card was included if I bought a fishing or hunting license, but that she rarely sold them seperately.
Maybe most hikers think nothing can go wrong.

[RedneckRye]

It is the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue Card, $3 for 1 year or $12 for 5 years.
Here is the official info...
http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/fa/s..._purchase.html
Probably not a bad idea to spend a couple dollars of you're headed that way.

[the goat]

glad to see someone paying for their own rescue.

[scope]

It is the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue Card, $3 for 1 year or $12 for 5 years.
Here is the official info...
http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/fa/s..._purchase.html
Probably not a bad idea to spend a couple dollars of you're headed that way.

Cool. Plans are for glisading down Andrews Glacier, so might be appropo.

Anybody know anything about something like that for GA or other states?

[Mags]

If he had spent $3 before he went out, he could have saved $9997.
Colorado has a search and rescue insurance program, I think it is called a CORSAR card. I paid $3 for mine when I did the Colorado Trail in 2003, so it

The CORSAR card is *NOT* an insurance card.

From the same link:

The CORSAR Card Is Not Insurance
The card is not insurance and does not reimburse individuals nor does it pay for medical transport. Medical transport includes helicopter flights or ground ambulance. If aircraft are used as a search vehicle, those costs are reimbursed by the fund. If the aircraft becomes a medical transport due to a medical emergency, the medical portion of the transport is not covered.


Basically, it helps fund the rescues. The areas that get the most rescues also tend to also have the lowest taxe base and pay a higher percentage of their income for rescues than a wealthier county. The CORSAR funds helps fund the trainining, equipment and rescues from a general fund.

Think of it as a charitable donation card.

Basically, you will not get charged for an SAR *UNLESS* you did a bone-headed thing due to you not being prepared. I suspect there is more to his story than the article is saying.

When a friend of mine suffered from massive altitude sickness and had to be helicoptered out, he was not charged a dime. The local authorities have to get X amount of hours of training in per year and put the SAR towards that.

If my friend had worn blue jeans, did not have equipment, etc. he may have been charged. I believe New Hampshire works the same way now.

[Wolf - 23000]

Calling a search and rescue all over a sprain ankle??? Is it just me or are we getting really soft. Just like most hikers on this website, I've fallen down a few time, got a couple burses, bang-up a few times. I’m sure we all have at some time but I've never even consider calling and relying on someone else to get my butt out. Every hiker who goes into the wilderness has a responsibility to get his/her butt out!!! If they cry because they got hurt a little, I say let them pay the whole amount.

Wolf

[Mags]

Calling a search and rescue all over a sprain ankle???

Without knowing all the details, the scenario probably went something like this:

a) Tourist from Kansas (TFK) thought it would be cool to scramble up some rock formations and do some hiking
b) TFK had no map, compass, food, water or extra clothing
c) TFK became lost
d) TFK hurt himself (It is almost ALWAYS a dude. Women seem to be smarter. )
e) TFK panicked and use his cell phone to call SAR
f) SAR spent a whole afternoon rescuing dude who was probably only a couple of miles from the road at the most
g) SAR people are PO'd as lots of time and money spent rescuing TFK who was woefully unprepared
h) Bill was sent.

Accidents do happen and most SAR folks understand that. What most SAR folks will not excuse is people who are unprepared and depend upon SAR to save them.

Again, this is all conjecture. Just an educated guess.

[sarbar]

Out here, in Washington State, I don't think I have heard of anyone ever being charged for a rescue. On the other hand.....a good number of helicopter rescues on the volcanoes are "assisted" by the Navy from NAS Whidbey or similar military operations. And I'll say this: being rescued by the military is about one notch over dying on a glacier. They are brutal, fast and efficent and use you for training purposes
Better than dying, but you won't get any 5 star treatment. About the same if you get rescued by the Coast Guard!

On the other hand, SAR is a big thing out here, and they turn out no matter how big or small the rescue is. Turn an ankle? They'll haul your stupid butt out. Break 50 bones falling while mtnering? They'll haul you out.

And hey, the 4x4 ambulances they have out here are pretty nifty.......

I have though asked my husband one favor:

That if anything ever happens to me, I was a newbie hiker, and had never been on a trail. All the rescue stories on King 5 news always start "Experienced Hiker......"

[Mags]

That if anything ever happens to me, I was a newbie hiker, and had never been on a trail. All the rescue stories on King 5 news always start "Experienced Hiker......"

Heh...my friends and I joke about that too if an accident should happen in the local foot hills trails...

I know a few years ago, there was an SAR rescue where a man (see! It is almost always a dude) was hiking in the Whites during winter. He had no map and compass. Otherwise was pretty safe, though. Just paniced and made a cell phone call from a high point. The rangers directed him towards the Lincoln Trail (? sorry, my memory is fuzzy about the Whites..damn..I gotta get back). It is an old railroad bed that is flat. It leads straight to the ranger station in less than 3 miles.

Well the guy panicked again once on this trail. Went UP to a hight point so he could make another cell phone call. Doh!

This incident was all over the hiking forums. Because of this incident, NH SAR folk started to become more hard #ssed about charging people.

Old Fart may have more info.

[Flexo]

Heck, I need to go work for the West Metro Fire Department. $25+/hr... not too shabby.

[Frosty]

Heh...my friends and I joke about that too if an accident should happen in the local foot hills trails...

I know a few years ago, there was an SAR rescue where a man (see! It is almost always a dude) was hiking in the Whites during winter. He had no map and compass. Otherwise was pretty safe, though. Just paniced and made a cell phone call from a high point. The rangers directed him towards the Lincoln Trail (? sorry, my memory is fuzzy about the Whites..damn..I gotta get back). It is an old railroad bed that is flat. It leads straight to the ranger station in less than 3 miles.

Well the guy panicked again once on this trail. Went UP to a hight point so he could make another cell phone call. Doh!

This incident was all over the hiking forums. Because of this incident, NH SAR folk started to become more hard #ssed about charging people.

Old Fart may have more info.

I remember a story about someone calling from Tripyramid. They had a GPS or a GPS phone and gave the Rangers coordinates. Rangers said go uphill 1/2 mile to the trail. They balked because they wanted to go DOWNhill, not UP. Forget how it turned out.

I almost hurt myself onf the Lincoln Woods trail you mentioned above. A friend and I had hiked over Liberty and Flume and out the Osseo Trail. After all that, walking out on the Lincoln Woods trail, I tripped over a half-buried RR tie and fell, jamming my knee pretty good. I could barely walk and my friend kept threatening to call the Rangers, saying he would write the story himself. He thought it was pretty funny until he tripped, too. Then we promised each other that if one of us fell and died on this flat trail, the other was honor-bound to drag his body back up to Flume and push it over the edge.

[TIDE-HSV]

are just now catching up on charging for rescues. For many, many, years, the Swiss have been charging mega bucks for rescue. The last time I was over in the Juengfrau Region, a friend tried to talk me into a piggy-back parasail trip (he was a pro). My first thought was that I could plunge several thousand feet to my death. My next thought was that I hadn't prepaid the rescue insurance. (There, it's really more like insurance.)

[Heater]

are just now catching up on charging for rescues. For many, many, years, the Swiss have been charging mega bucks for rescue. The last time I was over in the Juengfrau Region, a friend tried to talk me into a piggy-back parasail trip (he was a pro). My first thought was that I could plunge several thousand feet to my death. My next thought was that I hadn't prepaid the rescue insurance. (There, it's really more like insurance.)

Yeah, you sorta feel like it's "OK, here's my 20 bucks. I am gonna go do something stupid now. Risk my life or health. Wish me luck."

Same reason I never go see a doctor. I'd wind up getting sick.

[Mags]

Then we promised each other that if one of us fell and died on this flat trail, the other was honor-bound to drag his body back up to Flume and push it over the edge.

Heh..you and your buddy sound a bit like me and my buddy. Wise cracking fools who get into and out of trouble. ( I mean that in a good way...I miss Tim!)

The Flume slide trail is still my bench mark as the hardest hiking trail ever! I've bushwhacked in places less steep!!!! That ain't no trail..that's a climb. And, if you have to fake dying heroically, what better place?

[hammock engineer]

I did a quick search on the flume slide trail to see what you guys are talking about. I never saw a trail description that said so many times (a lot actually) that you should not go down this trail. You should not do it by yourself. You should never do this trail in winter.

Now I want to do it.

[hammock engineer]

Hmmm. I just saw it is only about 4.5 miles off a side trail on the AT in the whites. I might have to add this to my list of places to see if the opportunity presents itself.

[Mags]

Hmmm. I just saw it is only about 4.5 miles off a side trail on the AT in the whites. I might have to add this to my list of places to see if the opportunity presents itself.

As you hike NoBo on the AT, you can split off and go up this trail, summit Flume (the start of the Franconia Ridge more or less) and cotinue along the ridge to Liberty, etc. The AT (Mt. Liberty trail IIRC), joins up again from the Blue Blazed trail that comes from the Flume/Liberty area.

It means you won't have a "pure hike"...but I suspect it would be interesting. It would be CDT-esque!

[hammock engineer]

As you hike NoBo on the AT, you can split off and go up this trail, summit Flume (the start of the Franconia Ridge more or less) and cotinue along the ridge to Liberty, etc. The AT (Mt. Liberty trail IIRC), joins up again from the Blue Blazed trail that comes from the Flume/Liberty area.

It means you won't have a "pure hike"...but I suspect it would be interesting. It would be CDT-esque!

Thanks. I'll have to break out the map when I get home late tonight. I will be sobo though. Which means the worst part about the route you suggested is I may have to hike the same section sobo a second time. I can live with that. I can think about worse ways to spend 1-2 extra days.