3 days ago
As Colorado rescue teams see more calls, one man credits the team with saving his life
Like many Coloradans, Dave Mackey spends most of his days in the mountains.
"I was training for an ultra-marathon," Mackey said, "I was going to run up at Bears Peak and also up and down a couple of the other ones."
An avid runner, hiker, climber, and biker, Mackey felt secure on Bears Peak and most other trails around Boulder until one day in 2015.
"I stepped on a rock that dislodged in some wet soil... I fell about 30 feet," Mackey said, "I survived that fall, but the rock came with me and ended up landing on my leg."
Mackey's friend quickly moved the rock and called 911.
Two hours later, Rocky Mountain Rescue Group volunteers had hiked their way up to help.
When he saw the first responders, Mackey said, "It made me feel like, like I was going to make it. You know, I was going to survive."
Mackey is just one of hundreds of rescue calls the free, all-volunteer group responds to every year, but this year they're seeing even more calls than usual. In the last 8 days, the team has performed 22 rescues, with two calls on Monday alone.
"That's averaging about three calls per day, and when, typically we're about, when we average that over a year, we're about three a week," Rocky Mountain Rescue Group Operations Leader Drew Hildner explained, "We've seen that our rescue numbers increase at about the same percentage rate as the population of metro Denver increases. And so if you have more people going into the outdoors, you're going to have more rescues."
And Hildner says it's not just tourists and newbies getting hurt; it can happen to anyone.
"A lot of people will assume that it's people who are kind of out of their element and don't know what they're doing, and certainly that's part of our population that we rescue. But for the most part, it's just people like you and me going out, and reality happens," Hildner said.
The best way to stay safe, Hildner says, is to be prepared, along with staying weather and altitude-aware.
"Be prepared. Leave a plan with people and carry the 10 essentials with them and have a way to communicate with others," Hildner said, "A lot of people have started relying on their cell phones or on personal locator beacons as almost their insurance policy, but those won't keep you warm or dry."
Mackey still works to stay prepared every time he hikes, including a year after the accident when he was even able to return to Bear Peak. And with the reassurance of knowing Rocky Mountain Rescuers have his back.
"Running it through my head and just feeling appreciative of, you know, that I was still alive," Mackey said, "It gives me peace of mind just to be out there and know that you know I'm going to be fine in the end."
