Local Search and Rescue team involved in recovery mission
Air Guard crew okay after copter crash
Custer County Search and Rescue headed to Alamosa County Tuesday night to help with the recovery of the body of a hiker. Six CCSAR Technical Rope Rescue team members were dispatched at 9:30 p.m. on June 15. The mission was expected to commence at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, June 16.
According to reports, the experienced hiker had fallen shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 15, while climbing Little Bear Peak with a friend. Custer SAR captain Bob Pruiksma told the Tribune the hiker’s body, who in news reports has been identified as Kevin Hayne, 18, of Highlands Ranch, had been located in a remote location at an elevation of 13,000 feet. Initially, a Colorado Air National Guard helicopter from Buckley Air Force Base, was dispatched to the accident site, however, it crashed on approach around 6 p.m. on Tuesday night. Reportedly, crew and SAR members on board the helicopter at the time of the crash were not injured. Following the helicopter crash, Custer County SAR members were dispatched to reach the body on foot. Little Bear Peak, a Colorado fourteener, is located southwest of Mount Blanca some 20 miles northeast of Alamosa. It is known for being one of the most technically difficult and most dangerous of the fourteeners to climb. – Nora Drenner (Courtesy Wet Mountain Tribune, 17 June, 2010)