Red Mountain Rescue

PRESS RELEASE
August 21, 2013

IMPORTANT: Please direct any media requests to the contact below. Do not contact the Garfield County Emergency Communications Center or Patrol staff for media requests.

GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. – Shortly after noon today a para-glider traveling from the top of Red Mountain in Glenwood Springs was drawn into the mountain approximately half-way up the slope. He managed to hold himself on a 60% grade of loose soil until members of the Garfield County Search and Rescue as well as the Glenwood Springs Fire Department could reach him. They were able to secure him safely on the slope with the appropriate ropes and tactical gear. They then placed him on a stretcher to be air lifted out.

The air lift was provided by a Black Hawk helicopter from the High Altitude Aviation Training Corps, HAATS in Eagle via the Colorado National Guard. The lift required the helicopter to extend approximately 150 feet of cable to reach the man on the slope. The stretcher was then lifted from the mountain and brought to the Glenwood Springs High School Football field where an ambulance transported him to Valley View Hospital. Security of the football field and the surrounding necessary road closures was done in cooperation with the Glenwood Springs Police Department. By 3:00PM the injured para-glider was off the mountain and in an ambulance.

No further information will be released.