Custer County Search and Rescue marks 50 years of service with impressive helo training

“Free of charge, at any hour, in every condition” is the motto for Custer County Search and Rescue as the organization enters its 50th year serving the region. To ensure that the three dozen volunteers can safely and swiftly deploy when they receive a call for help in the rugged alpine environment, they train regularly with state agencies. 

On Thursday, June 4, members of the Custer County Search and Rescue (CCSR) spent the day training jointly and familiarizing themselves with the Colorado National Guard and the Colorado Hoist Rescue Teams. CCSR stated that “mutual aid relationships are critical to our team’s success, and we highly value these opportunities.” Throughout the day, locals watched as two helicopters landed and took off in the open field next to the Search and Rescue Building in Westcliffe. An upgraded UH-60 Black Hawk, along with a speedy UH-72B Lakota helicopter, was used for training.

While the Black Hawks are iconic and have been the backbone of alpine air rescue missions over the past two decades, their primary design purpose is warfare. Recognizing that other, non-military helicopter models existed, the Colorado Hoist Rescue Teams ordered and started receiving the UH-72B Lakota helicopters in 2022. The rationale for adding the Lakota helicopters was explained during a 2022 interview. “The Colorado National Guard will utilize the new platform primarily for counter-drug and search and rescue in Colorado,” State Army Aviation Officer U.S. Army Col. William Gentle, Colorado Army National Guard, said at the time. “The increased aircraft capabilities over the UH-72A in support of domestic operations will help lessen the load on our UH-60 fleet.”

According to Col. Gentle, the operating costs of the UH-72B Lakota are half that of the UH-60 Black Hawk. And what is key for CCSR is that the Lakota can operate and hoist at a much higher elevation compared to the Black Hawk. 

The Colorado National Guard expects to have 18 UH-72B Lakotas operational this year, and training with the CCSR will be invaluable for future missions. 

With all that said, helicopter hoists are a last resort in search-and-rescue operations. The Colorado Search and Rescue Association never tires of explaining that “Helicopters are a great tool as a last resort in a dire situation, but they are not an Uber. We consider all other available resources before asking for these state and federal assets. A helicopter hoist operation is a specialized, dangerous, expensive process, and for 99% of SAR incidents, it isn’t the best answer. Most incidents require ‘ground pounders,’ teams of rescuers that come in on foot.”

And for 50 years now, the CCSR has taken pride in its “ground pounders” to help wayward alpinists back to safety. Rancher and archaeologist Gary Ziegler, in his new memoir, The Road to Ruins, described how the CCSR got its start in 1976. According to Ziegler, there was little need for search and rescue in the 1960s or 70s. The reason was twofold. First, the alpine culture was only just starting to gain wider popularity at the time. Sheriff Dan De Priest would whip up some ranchers when there was a wayward hunter or fisherman. As the years passed, more and more climbers began attempting to summit high mountain peaks. Ziegler had experience in extreme hiking and climbing conditions and would help when a rare incident occurred, stabilizing a hiker and waiting for the newly formed helicopter support from Fort Carson to arrive. 

Ken Perschbacher noted that an official search-and-rescue organization would be needed as interest in hiking in high-alpine environments increased. Working with Division of Wildlife Officer Dan Riggs, Sheriff Bob Baker, and many others, Perschbacher helped formally organize Custer County Search and Rescue, with the first member meeting on October 30, 1975, and it officially came into existence on March 29, 1976, as Custer County Search and Rescue, Inc. 

To ensure a stable future for the next 50 years, CCSR has set up a special fund to mark the occasion and is accepting donations: “Fifty years of service is built entirely on community generosity–no government subsidy, no charge to those we rescue. This anniversary year, we’re asking our community to make a milestone gift that ensures CCSAR can meet growing backcountry demand for the next fifty years.” To donate to the entirely volunteer force, visit www.custersar.org.

– Jordan Hedberg