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Bow hunters rescued from cliffs on Mount Werner

Scott Franz
Steamboat Pilot & Today
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— Routt County Search and Rescue volunteers got to put a recent ropes training session to the test Saturday when a pair of bow hunters found themselves trapped on the cliffs atop Mount Werner.

Two rescuers with headlamps rappelled down the cliffs in the dark to get to the bow hunters and used the ropes to hoist them down to safety.

The hunters were uninjured.



“They weren’t injured, but they were feeling helpless when they were stuck on those cliffs,” volunteer Kristia Check-Hill said. “They couldn’t go up, down or sideways.”

The mission, which started at about 7:20 p.m., went into the early hours of Sunday morning.



Volunteers used ATVs to get to and from the rescue scene.

Check-Hill said the last rescuers dropped off their gear in town after 2 a.m.

And it was cold.

Rescuers could see their breath at the top of the mountain.

The hunters got stuck on cliffs near the No Name Chutes, and they were brought down to the ski run known as First Chance.

“How and why they got where they were, I don’t know,” Check-Hill said.

The identities of the hunters weren’t immediately available Monday.

Check-Hill said the hunters were friends and were from out of town.

The rescue came just a few weeks after Search and Rescue volunteers practiced rescuing people with ropes on the cliffs near Fish Creek Falls.

“It was awesome we had it all so fresh in our minds and to be able to use that training so quickly,” Check-Hill said. “We got to do a little bit of everything on this mission.”

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210, email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottFranz10


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