Park staff dealt with three significant incidents on the weekend of November 16th through November 18th:
On Friday, rangers and Mesa County technical SAR team personnel rescued two brothers from Independence Monument. The brothers, ages 24 and 29, climbed the five-pitch, 5.9-graded “Otto’s Route” late that afternoon and were in the process of rappelling down when one of them ran into a knot and got stuck on his second rappel about 60 feet above the ground. He had a cell phone with him, though, and was able to call 911. Two members of the SAR team reached the brothers around 9 p.m. They performed a technical pickoff on the younger brother and belayed the older brother, who was stuck on the second pitch. Both brothers were able to hike out on their own.
On Saturday morning, rangers dealt with a suicide at Cold Shivers Point. A 63-year-old man from Grand Junction shot himself with a .22 caliber handgun.
On Sunday afternoon, a 72-year-old park volunteer died of a heart attack while hiking the Monument Canyon trail near Independence Monument. Three hikers performed CPR and called 911. A ranger and area firefighters hiked two miles to the scene, arriving about 45 minutes later. Efforts to resuscitate him were not successful.
