Miracle on Red Mountain (just interesting story)

[Robb]

Robb's note: I responded to this one with EMS and Mountain Rescue, and I'll tell ya, when we got the call we were damn sure we were headed out to pick up bodies.

Miracle on Red Mountain

MONTROSE - A treacherous mountain pass, ice, snow and a sharp curve whipped up a recipe for disaster - or for a miracle, depending on how it's viewed.

The Joe Sullivan family of Montrose, along with family friend Terry Holman and his daughter, were making a seemingly routine trip from a Durango basketball game Saturday afternoon, when, just past the snowshed, their minivan took an unexpected detour off the side of Red Mountain Pass.

(snip)

The van "plowed" snow, turning over "we don't know how many times," Sullivan said, before coming to rest in the river several hundred feet below.

Shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, the Sullivan vehicle left the road at milepost 88.2 on Highway 550, approximately 6 miles outside of Ouray, according to the Colorado State Patrol. The vehicle had reportedly been traveling at approximately 10 mph in the 25 mph zone at the time.

"The roads were icy and snow packed. (Joe Sullivan) stated they lost control. There's no guardrail and they went 340 feet down the embankment, rolling multiple times," CSP Sgt. Lawrence Oletski said Monday.

(more)

Robb's note part two: It's a little hard to imagine, but this minivan went basically off a cliff and was slowed by a pillow of fresh snow. We lose maybe one car off that road every year, and in places like where this one went off we never get survivors out!

[KarenS]

1. It sounds like they were very lucky people that day!! n/t