Effort by CPW, Climbers at Lake City Ice Park Rescue Entangled Elk
Connecticut native Chris Yeager and his wife, Becky Young, live at Leadville, Colorado, and are avid ice climbers who make frequent weekend overnight expeditions to their favorite ice climbing park, Lake City.Chris and Becky — who say they much prefer Lake City to other climbing venues in Colorado due to the expanse of ice and lack of crowds — were camped overnight on Henson Creek at the upper Beer Garden ice climb area in their snug camper when they heard a suspicious rustling noise in the trees just above their camp.In the predawn light, Yeager recounts he had been up to let out the dog and was briefly readying the morning’s ropes and other climbing gear when he heard the noise.Located straight above their camp, across Henson Creek, the rustling noise was in a small grove of cottonwoods on a precipitous slope perhaps 20’ above the frozen creek bed.In the dim light, he says he could make out the shape of a rather large, light brownish animal with long blackish-brown muzzle and antlers which was thrashing about on the slope in the undergrowth.Already fitted for the upcoming day’s ice climb at the Beer Garden Ice Climb Park, Yeager and Young walked to the edge of the slope and quickly discerned that the animal in question was a young elk with pronged antlers thoroughly entwined in the mountainside climbing rope. The swagged climbing rope is adjacent to the heated black plastic pipe which furnishes a gushing supply of water from creek to the top of adjacent cliffs to continually replenish the vertical ice. Adjacent to the water pipe and rope is a zigzag bushwacking trail used by climbers on their trudge up to the top of the cliffs.It was just below this trail and with the climbing rope firmly entwined, that the large elk was unintentionally yet firmly tethered, dark brown muzzle, roped horns pointed uphill and the rump of the standing animal on a steep angle downhill.From tramped snow and vegetation immediately below the water pipe and trail, it was uncertain how many hours the elk had been ensnared and whether the mishap had occurred earlier in the night or just hours before the animal’s discovery by the ice climbers.After quickly ascertaining that the elk was trapped, Yeager and Young alerted another nearby climber, Chris Carr, and by early morning the word was out to both Sheriff-Elect Denim Starnes and Lucas Martin, Colorado Parks & Wildlife Officer in Lake City.Word quickly spread, and by 10:30 Friday morning a small but intent crowd had formed, conversing in discrete tones from near the ice climbers’ campsite and eagerly scanning the uphill tree thicket to discern occasional movement by the trapped elk.On hand in the viewing crowd, in addition to Martin and Starnes were Recreation Director Ben Hake and Christian Hartman, both of whom are intimately acquainted with the rope, water pipe, and access trail after installing and maintaining the water supply system since late last fall.Arriving at the scene near simultaneously Friday morning as part of the impromptu elk rescue team from the Gunnison Parks & Wildlife Office were Anna Markey, Paul Rivera and markswoman Alyssa Meier, the latter summoned with a specially equipped dart gun and rounds of fast-acting tranquilizer.While the anxious and hushed crowd waited across Henson Creek, markswoman Meier cautiously approached to just below the ensnared animal and, with a clear vantage point, shot a single tranquilizer dart into the hind quarters of the animal.Tethered by the rope, the elk remained on its feet for approximately ten minutes before slowly sinking to the ground, rope entwined antlers and black muzzle gradually sinking into the snow.At this point Parks & Wildlife officers Meier, Markey, Rivera, and Martin climbed up the hillside to cautiously approach the elk, closely followed by the three helmeted ice climbers, Yeager, Young, and Carr, equipped with ice axes and climbing ropes.As explained by Becky Young — who first began ice climbing in Lake City while a student at Western Colorado University — both she and her husband, along with fellow ice climber Chris Carr, know as second nature the importance of ropes to safely belay a descending climber’s weight.Only in this instance, the calmly proficient ice climbers and CPW reps worked in unison to safely belay the resting elk, using climbing rope tied to uphill trees to support the sedated elk and then gently lower the several-hundred-pound animal down the hillside to the valley floor.Chris Yeager calmly directed by alternately barking out “slow” and “down slow” as slack was alternately released on the taut supporting rope and the weighty elk descended hind quarters first. Yeager called for a brief stop in the rescue effort as Meier and Markey were called in to readjust the elk’s hind legs after they were briefly caught in an awkward angle on a small rock precipice.On the ground adding belaying support were a bevy of Lake City volunteers comprised of Undersheriff Starnes, Recreation Director Hake, Christian Hartman, and public works employees Willie Merfeld and Ethan Wuest.After positioning the slumbering and apparently uninjured elk prone on flat ground beside the creek, Martin briefly checked the animal’s eyes for signs of life, ropes were unfastened, and onlookers moved to a safe distance as the elk slowly regained consciousness, regaining its feet somewhat unsteadily. The elk briefly looked around and then — to the relief of onlookers — trotted upstream apparently none the worse for its hillside mishap.Sheriff-Elect Starnes thanked participants, “nice work, everyone.” Starned referred to the rescued elk, noting, “he had a rough night, but I think he’ll be alright.”During the rescue and due to the elk’s close proximity to the plastic supply line with electric heat tape, electricity was disconnected and the water flow briefly halted.With water once again flowing and ice continuing to form, the ice climber rescuers reassembled their gear as they prepared to resume their morning climb. The elk successfully out of danger, Recreation Director Hake says minor alterations will be made, principally tightening the trail support
