response area

Custer County has a total area of 740 square miles (1,916 km²). The county is very rugged and would be virtually inaccessible without roads. The lowest point of the county is around 6,000 feet (1,800 m) in elevation, but most of the county is rugged and mountainous. To the west of the small town of Westcliffe, is the northern end of a 220 mile long, linear mountain range called the Sangre de Cristos (blood of Christ). The Sangres contain 10 named fourteen thousand foot peaks, clustered in three groups. They are considered to be some of Colorado’s most difficult fourteeners, and hold many technical routes. They are also some of Colorado’s most dangerous 14,000 foot peaks. The Crestone Group, includes the five most northern 14ers in the Sangres, straddling the Custer and Saguache County lines. These peaks also lie within the 220,803 acre Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, which was designated by congress in 1993. The Wilderness Act of 1964 states that there shall be no “mechanical transport” in Wilderness, a factor that complicates SAR missions in the region, and must be taken into account on all mission responses.

The Crestone group is made up of: Crestone Peak at 14,294 ft; Crestone Needle at 14,197 ft, Kit Carson Mountain at 14,165 ft, Challenger Point at 14,081 ft, and Humbolt Peak at 14,064 ft. The area also includes several 13,000 and 12,000 ft mountains, alpine lakes, passes and wilderness areas enjoyed by many backcountry enthusiasts.

In Colorado, the County Sheriff has the statutory responsibility for search and rescue operations in their jurisdiction. The Crestone Group offers a good example of how response by geographic terrain and access is sometimes necessitated; rather than solely by a county boundary line, running along a ridgeline, as the deciding factor in a mission response. Custer and Saguache counties, through their Sheriffs, SAR Teams and County Coroners have a history of cooperation and mutual aid, that includes utilizing SAR resources from both sides of the Sangre de Cristo range, during incidents. Through written ‘Memorandums of Understanding’ and verbal requests, these stakeholders work for the mutual benefit of those individuals in need of rescue, or recovery across jurisdictional lines.

CCSAR also works with many cooperating agencies, during life and death emergencies, including Flight for Life, Reach Air Medical Services, Division of Fire Prevention and Control’s Canon City Helitack, the Colorado Army National Guard aviation units with the Colorado High Altitude Aviation Training Site, and COANG at Buckly Air Force Base, as well as the Colorado Hoist Rescue Team, and Colorado Search and Rescue Association.

Use of aviation assets in search and rescue is dangerous, and Colorado’s high elevations and warm summertime temperatures only compound the dangers for the aviators and rescue crews. The use of a helicopter is limited to rescue those whose injuries are life-, limb-, or eyesight-threatening, or when conditions put ground-rescuers at significant peril.

While there is no charge for search and rescue services in Colorado, EMS agencies like helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS or Air Ambulances) may still charge for their medical transport services if needed to reach a patient during a rescue operation; meaning you might incur a cost for the medical flight even if the search and rescue itself is free.