The SARCon committee, composed of Flight For Life staff and volunteer CSAR members, took a slightly different approach to planning this year. Instead of just calling for session proposals, we sent a survey asking what topics attendees wanted to see on the program and then solicited session proposals to meet those requests. There were a number of new topics this year, along with a slate of technical presentations that SARCon committee member Kyle Griffin called, “the best we’ve seen yet.”
On Friday, attendees at the Swan Mountain technical session learned a variety of sloping guideline systems, one of which was then used during the Sunday scenario at Porcupine Rock.
In a first-time offering, Friday also featured a leadership development introductory session with Mark Gasta and Jeff Klem of Adventures in Leading. Attendees created a collaborative list of BSAR leadership competencies during the session.
On Saturday, Mike Gibbs of Ouray Mountain Rescue and Rigging for Rescue presented initial test findings from drop testing and slow pull of Sterling Tactical Response and VT eye-to-eye cords. He gave this same presentation a few weeks later at the 2024 International Tech Rescue Symposium (ITRS) and was awarded best presentation of the year for new research.
Also on Saturday, Martin Barnett of Alpine Rescue Team and Elevated Safety taught a well-attended session on small-team vertical pickoffs using single rope techniques and minimal gear in the CMC outdoor skills lab.
In another session involving small group tech rescue techniques, Ben Swerlow and Tom Wood of Alpine Rescue Team presented Diminishing Loops: Helping Small Teams Perform Big Rescues.
Harry Sandler of Routt County Search and Rescue taught a creative Saturday session on motorized transport, using an ATV – and only an ATV – to transport a subject in a litter.
The 2024 keynote speaker, Captain Pemba Sherpa from Flight For Life, shared stories of his experience flying SAR in Nepal and the appreciation locals hold in their hearts for the SAR community. Captain Sherpa has extensive experience as a SAR pilot operating in the Himalayas, including Mt. Everest, and his presentation was full of humorous anecodotes and heartwarming stories.
Randy Toltz of Delta County SAR, assisted by John Rutland and Cody Houseweart of West Elk Mountain Rescue, presented The Search for Sylvia Montague, walking through a 102-day search for a woman who went missing under suspicious circumstances in the fall of 2023. The massive search covered over seven square miles at two different sites 30 miles apart, and involved seven agencies and over 1,000 man hours. Her remains were ultimately found by a dog team, in plain sight, less than a half mile from her last known location and right in the heart of the search area. Assumptions and group dynamics (“group think”) led the search away from basic search fundamentals and from the desired result, and were magnified by bringing in more resources.
On Sunday, attendees looking for a field scenario had two options to choose from: a scenario at Porcupine Rock in which sloping guideline practice from the Friday Swan Mountain session was put into play, or a scenario at Officer’s Gulch including a search and a low angle evacuation. The search element of the Officer’s Gulch session was new for SARCon and generated a great deal of interest from attendees looking for search management practice.
Also on Sunday, CSAR chief coordinator Hugh Zuker presented a review of new Colorado State Aviation (CSA) resource ordering procedures, and CSAR executive director Jeff Sparhawk presented a review of CSAR’s current programs and future plans.
There were many more excellent presentations and field sessions this year, too many to mention them all. Our planning process for the 2025 conference begins in February, and we welcome feedback from any of our 2024 attendees.