Crestone Needle | Fourteener Rescue | Making Dangerous Things Look Easy | Blackhawks in Action

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Published 2022-07-01
The Colorado Hoist Rescue Team is a partnership between the Colorado Army National Guard and four search and rescue teams throughout the state. Together, they conduct rescues in the most difficult to reach places in Colorado.

In Sept. 2020, they were called to a rescue on one of Colorado's most famous and dangerous peaks, Crestone Needle, of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. With a height of 14,203 feet, the elevation, weather, and terrain make rescues of any kind especially dangerous.

This video shows the complete story... starting with the two climbers that called for help all the way through the aftermath of the rescue which awarded the crew the prestigious DUSTOFF award.

Army Aviation Units:
High-Altitude Army National Guard Training Site | Colorado Army Aviation Support Facility

Search and Rescue:
Alpine Rescue Team | Vail Mountain Rescue Group | Rocky Mountain Rescue Group | Mountain Rescue Aspen | Colorado Search & Rescue

0:00 Intro
0:48 Finding a climbing partner online
1:56 "It's hard to trust your life with a stranger"
2:39 Overview of Ellingwood Ledges
3:28 Leading up to the fall/ the fall itself
5:39 Where do we go from here?
8:01 Search and Rescue receives call
8:59 The Pilot receives the call
10:17 Crew Chief looks at mission requirements
10:56 Rescue Techs pack their bags
12:12 Flying out to the Mountain
13:14 First Pass of Climbers
15:48 Taking a step back to evaluate the situation
17:15 Getting approval for a dangerous mission/ Beginning the rescue
19:26 First Rescue
23:47 Second Rescue
26:13 The Aftermath
27:52 Where do we go from here?

#CrestoneNeedle #colorado #searchandrescue #rockclimbing #armyaviation #armynationalguard #fourteener #14ers #14er #blackhawk #uh60

Video by U.S. Army Capt. Remington Henderson

Special Thanks to:
SSG Ray Rivera
Joe King
KDVR
KCNC-TV
KRDO
Channel 9

** Music by Secession Studios **
Agoraphobia - Augmentations
Imaginarium - Where Dreams Begin
Persecution - The Untold
Fables - The Untold II
The World Burns Around Us - Entering Light
Bionic Awakening - Augmentations
Kinetic Outbreak - Augmentations
To Boldly Go - Legendary
Bold and Brave - Heart of Darkness
The Untold - The Untold
Vindication - The Untold
Farewell Light - Entering Light

The full uncut GoPro rescue footage can be found here:
   • Alpine Rescue Team Hoist Rescue  
And here:
   • Crestone Needle 19 Sept 2020  

Also, the one-wheel landing clip of Maroon Bells can be found here:
   • 130921 North Maroon Bells One Wheel L...  

Nederland International Film Festival - Best Short Documentary

Advertisements are not official endorsements by the Colorado National Guard, The music rights holder may have chosen to place ads on it. YouTube may also place ads on videos in channels not in the YouTube Partner Program.

All Comments (21)
  • @kimb2582
    These guys are absolutely incredible. Risking their own lives because of others poor decisions. All these rescuers easily could have died. And yet, they went in there to save the lives of two people they don't know.
  • @snosqrl
    As both a climber and a Helicopter pilot... I love this on SO MANY levels! Well done to ALL involved!
  • @TheChip4
    “If you’re going to do really dangerous things, you have to be really good at doing them.” Love it
  • @Mrwhomeyou
    Not to shit on the guy but if you can climb back up to your highpoint, your climbing partner was right, should've rappel down instead of risking the rescuer.
  • @oldkayakdude
    As someone that has done a lot of really dangerous things in my life, and rescued people in really dangerous places, it always upsets me how little people understand the danger people put their rescuers in because they really don't have the skills to be there. It feels like its gotten a lot worse out there for anyone doing rescues, but we who do go, still go.
  • My family was rescued by these guys in August of 2018. They have got to be the best in the world. So grateful for Vail Mountain Rescue. Truly life saving, extremely skilled and selfless people!!!!!! They literally save my daughter's life. She would not have survived another 24 hours and she is the mother of 3. Helicopter rescue.
  • What’s remarkable is that they do these missions for those that are alive and for those loved ones who are recovered. My father in-law was recovered in Aug 2006 on the Crestone Needles/Crestone peak area after he fell. We know he made summit on one of them because we were able to recover his sd card from his camera and he had a selfie. He always did when he climbed a 14er. Thank you for risking your lives to get our loved ones back home and for treating each one the same.
  • If I could describe the communication and incredible teamwork by the guards and the rescue team would be OUTSTANDING job. Respect from Sweden
  • When my dad and I climbed the needle we ran into a group that had spent the night on the mountain after climbing the arette. They didn't need rescue, they just knew it would take a long time and brought a lightweight tent with them. The area they camped was, like where the rescue happened, a dinner table sized ledge with 1000ft drop on both sides. Something to know about the rock on the Crestones is that its a double edged sword. The rock is extremely solid and stable, the best climbing rock I've ever seen in my life. It also doesn't have many cracks on it making gear placement impossible in most places. Also these guys were so lucky that they had cell service to call for rescue, most of these mountains don't.
  • we attempted this route back in summer of 97' ended up climbing Humboldt Peak across the valley. Beautiful valley.........
  • This is a downright beautiful documentary that showcases the vulnerable human element behind missions like this that most people never get to see. The average person only gets a glimpse of what missions like these are like through watered-down, glamoured-up news reports that they see on TV. Hats off to this SAR team for successfully carrying out such a difficult mission, and to CPT Henderson for putting this documentary together.
  • @ColtonBlumhagen
    Someone like Mr dale atkins is absolutely the face you’d want too see when being rescued.
  • The description of their rescue plan around 16 minutes in is some of the most fascinating stuff I’ve learned in a while. The amount of nimble intelligence it takes to pull something like this off is astonishing.
  • @Ryanmathewsc
    So easy to take for granted how much goes into a rescue operation. Wonderful glimpse into that world.
  • @steveilg6134
    Gotta admit I’m conflicted. Yea,I’m 61 and from an era where we simply knew we had to self-rescue or die. No options available. Somewhat infamously, i fell 60’ off the Diamond (Longs Peak) during an attempted winter ascent and had a paralyzed spine, forced bivi in a winter storm and a several mile crawl out. I have raised my now 16 year-old daughter as a mountain athlete in the mold of my era. Seems like the more proficient and kickass modern rescues become, a psychological paradigm has shifted creating a new and ever growing demographic of less experienced outdoor/mountain “athletes” that just go for projects for which they may not be ready. They seem eased by the growing fact that, well? We can always call for a rescue. 🤷🏽‍♂🙏🏾💯🕉
  • It's crazy that some of our national guard guys are like special forces level pilot skill. I would have loved a brief summary of pilot resumes. How well the pilot placed the rescue tech when he lowered him was just freaking perfect.
  • @xsteevox
    I’m glad YouTube put this in my algo. Thanks to SAR and all involved for all they do!
  • Just one of the many amazing rescues that the Colorado Army National Guard flight crews preform that are based on Buckley and up at HAATS on Eagle Airport.