Technical rescue used to save three scramblers stuck off-route after dark in Colorado
According to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, three scramblers were rescued off of the Regency Rock formation just west of Boulder after getting off-route and into terrain beyond their climbing capabilities. The rescue was conducted after nightfall, with the report of the stuck scramblers received at 8:20 PM on August 14.
The three males, aged 23, 24, and 25, were rescued by a crew that hiked into the area and climbed up to their location, providing them with harnesses and helmets so that they could be safely lowered via a technical rope system.
No injuries were sustained by the climbers, with the rescue taking about five hours in total.
According to Mountain Project, Regency Rock sits below the well-known Royal Arch formation, left of the canyon between the Fourth and Fifth Flatirons. Regency Rock is often mistaken as a part of Royal Arch, but is considered a separate formation. Listed routes on Regency Rock range from 5.0 to 5.6, which would be beginner-grade technical climbing, however, the unroped nature of scrambling coupled with losing the intended route would have made this climb quite dangerous.
When scrambling up any technical terrain, it’s crucial to be very skilled at route-finding, as getting off-route can often lead to a very bad situation. Thankfully, these climbers were able to get the help they needed.
If you’re interested in supporting Colorado’s volunteer-powered search and rescue operation, one way to do so is through the purchase of a CORSAR card. It’s cheap, at only $3 per year.
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