Enjoy this short video from the good folks at Colorado Search and Rescue Association (CSAR) about how to safely enjoy the Colorado backcountry.
CSAR team members are often asked “If I’m a black diamond skier in a resort, am I ready to get into the backcountry?” The answer is backcountry skiing is very different from in-bounds skiing but if you are prepared with the right knowledge and gear and take all the necessary steps before heading out it can be a safe and highly rewarding experience.
“One thing that I do want to make clear is that we do encourage people to get out into the backcountry, just make sure that you are safe when you are out there.” –Lindsay Wiebold, Summit County Rescue Group
About Colorado Search and Rescue Association (CSAR):
CSAR’s mission is to bring organizations together to find, rescue and recover those in need in the Colorado backcountry. Composed of volunteers from our member teams, CSAR assists and empowers through public education, advocacy, coordination, collaboration, and continuous skill development.
A Colorado Parks and Wildlife study showed that 92% of Coloradans recreate outdoors, and 62% recreate in parks, trails, and open spaces one or more times a week. In addition, out-of-state visitors to Colorado have increased steadily in the past 20 years. It’s not surprising that backcountry search and rescue (BSAR) teams in the state are busy — and getting busier.
Backcountry Search and Rescue (BSAR)
The Colorado backcountry begins where the road ends. Backcountry search and rescue is defined in Colorado statute as, “The utilization, training, and support of responders, with their specialized equipment, coordinated by a sheriff to provide the services described in this subsection during emergencies or disasters in forests, deserts, mountains, canyons, caves, waters, parks, plains, and at times, in more populated areas.” The subsection continues by describing BSAR services which include finding and extricating lost or injured people, providing emergency care, recovering the bodies of deceased individuals, providing public backcountry safety education, training volunteers to provide these services, and supporting their physical and mental well-being.
There is often confusion about what “backcountry” really means. If you get off the pavement and out of town to hike or mountain bike, ski outside of a ski area boundary, go rock climbing, boat, hunt, fish, or even ride an off-road vehicle, you are in the backcountry. The backcountry is beyond where traditional street-based medical services and fire/rescue services typically respond. When you need help in the backcountry and call 911, it is likely a BSAR team will come to your aid.
BSAR efforts in Colorado are mostly a local issue, with county sheriffs required to coordinate efforts within their counties. They do this by relying on BSAR teams, most of which are nonprofits staffed by professional volunteers. These teams do not charge for their services.
Until recently, the only state funding support for this important work was $400 – 500k in annual grants from the Department of Local Affairs’ SAR Fund. Most of these funds are raised from a 25-cent surcharge on hunting and fishing licenses; motorboat, snowmobile, and OHV registrations; and the sale of Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue (CORSAR) cards.
Because of our legislative efforts in 2020 – 2022, BSAR teams in Colorado are now beneficiaries of the Keep Colorado Wild program. When Colorado residents register vehicles, they may automatically purchase a heavily discounted state park pass. Funds from this program go to state parks, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, and the BSAR Fund, which is administered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and provides an inflation-adjusted $2.5 million annually to support professional volunteer responders and their local BSAR teams.
CSAR assists its member teams in several ways. Our state coordinators rotate in an on-call role to facilitate resource requests from any county that needs help, whether it be additional responders from other teams, dog teams from other counties, helicopters from the National Guard, cell phone forensics from the Civil Air Patrol, or other specialized resources. CSAR also provides training programs and conferences, advocacy, best practices, and collaboration tools for its members. Finally, we work to prevent backcountry incidents through our public safety education efforts.
If an incident becomes a state-declared disaster, CSAR works closely with the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to ensure the right BSAR resources are available. CSAR and the BSAR teams work closely with a host of State of Colorado departments, federal agencies, the Colorado National Guard, the Civil Air Patrol, and a great number of other for-profit and nonprofit entities and local agencies, not to mention our colleagues from other first response agencies and the health care systems.
