“Peak Awareness Program” Planned After 7th Person Dies In Colorado’s Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness

Mountain Rescue Aspen plans to start a “Peak Awareness Program” on how to best stay safe while climbing in Colorado’s high country. The program was prompted by seven deaths this summer in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness.

Here is a bullet point summary of Mountain Rescue Aspen’s “Peak Awareness safety tips:

Summer Safety Tips – Climbers

• Elk Range is comprised of loose rocks
• Warming temperatures, wildlife an climbers are factors in contributing to rock fall
• Caution should be used with handholds and footing
• Rocks are slippery when wet or snowy
• Plan your primary route ahead of time
• Prepare an alternate backup route
• Cairns can be misleading
• Be prepared for quick weather changes
• Expect possible high winds
• Altitude, dehydration and exhaustion impair judgment
• Do not get separated from your group

Summer Safety tips – Communicating position

• Most smart phone have the ability to capture coordinates
  • Example using an IPhone.
    1. Go to to privacy setting
    2. Turn Location Services to “on”
    3. Go to compass
    4. On the bottom read out the coordinates:  degrees , minutes ‘ and seconds

*Mountain Rescue Aspen’s Facebook page is a great resource as well. The picture bellow is from their page. 

[image from Mountain Rescue Aspen’s Facebook]

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• Climbing