Editor’s Note: The headline of this article has been updated to clarify the attribution of the quote.

Every year, Breckenridge residents Nikki and Brad LaRochelle hike the Tenmile Traverse, a rugged ridgeline route that summits a dozen peaks in about double the miles.

But this year, after summiting Mount Royal, Mount Victoria, Peak 1 and Peak 2 on Saturday, Aug. 17, the couple stumbled upon a harrowing accident that made them reassess their backcountry practices and better appreciate the importance of local search and rescue volunteers.

After leaving from Frisco at about 7:15 a.m., the two first noticed something was wrong about 2 hours into the hike, as they approached a rocky ridgeline outcropping between Peak 2 and Peak 3, which locals have named after a mythological creature.

“They call it the Dragon. It’s this rock formation right on the ridge, and you descend into this gully,” Brad LaRochelle said. “There were some people in a group acting in a way like they were helping somebody. They weren’t talking to us in any way, but as we got closer it seemed like there was something going on, and I kind of asked, ‘Are you guys OK?’ They said, ‘No.'”

Quickly, the LaRochelles realized that a woman had fallen, about 20-30 feet, and slid down the steep mountainside. The couple immediately started helping another group that was assessing the situation, which appeared to have occurred only a few minutes earlier.

Someone had already called Summit County Rescue Group, the local all-volunteer rescue team, and activated an SOS signal on a Garmin InReach satellite communicator.

“From what we can gather, she caught herself on the only tree in the gully,” Nikki LaRochelle said. “Had she had enough speed, it would have been a catastrophe.”

The injured woman was in quite a bit of pain and had fallen into a shaded area where she was growing cold, so Nikki LaRochelle said she gave her the rain jacket she brought in an attempt to keep her warm. Because the terrain in the area is so rugged, Nikki LaRochelle said she knew that it could take rescuers some time to get to the location.

Summit County Rescue Group enlisted the help of a Flight for Life helicopter, but the closest the helicopter could land to shuttle rescuers to the location of the incident was Peak 5. While her husband stayed behind with the injured woman and other bystanders, Nikki LaRochelle said she went to meet up with the rescuers landing on Peak 5 to guide them to the location of the incident.

Brad LaRochelle said that other hikers passed by the injured woman while they waited for rescuers, and even though more help was not needed, everyone asked if they could help, and several people provided additional clothing to keep the woman warm.

“You never want to be in one of those situations,” Brad LaRochelle said. “But it was really great to see people helping other people they don’t know, and everybody was that way. Everybody was doing what they could to help and to help her in any way they could.”

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Nikki LaRochelle said that when she eventually linked up with the paramedics and rescue group members at Peak 5, they were carrying “a big heavy load with them,” including ropes and other equipment. She said she was impressed with everyone from the bystanders who helped to the rescue volunteers and paramedics who responded.

“It’s just this incredible reminder that there is this essential connection we share with other humans and everybody that was there did their best to ensure we could help her to the best of their capability,” Nikki LaRochelle said. “You just feel that drive as a human to help.”

When paramedics and rescue group members reached the woman, they provided her with pain medications and helped tend to her injury, Nikki LaRochelle said. Then, around 1:30 p.m., a Black Hawk helicopter arrived from the High-altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site to hoist the injured woman to safety and fly her to a hospital on the Front Range, where she is recovering.

“I felt so thankful for the search and rescue folks, many of whom are volunteers,” Nikki LaRochelle said. “It was a really sobering experience, and I’m going to put a lot more stuff in my backpack next time I go out.”

Nikki LaRochelle said that in the future she plans to pack more layers, in case she needs to share layers with someone she encounters on the trail, a battery supply to charge a cell phone and a space blanket. She also said she plans to pack a tourniquet and learn how to use one to stop potentially life-threatening bleeding.

“It could be a critical piece of equipment that could save someone’s life,” Nikki LaRochelle said.

After the whole experience, Nikki LaRochelle said she and her husband were “totally smoked emotionally and physically,” and decided to hike back down Peak 1 and Peak 2 to their car in Frisco, rather than completing the traverse. They’re planning to complete their annual Tenmile Traverse tradition later this year.

“We’re hoping for a very nonincidental redo coming up here sometime in the next month,” Nikki LaRochelle said.

Because of the difficulty of the route, Nikki LaRochelle said that anyone attempting the Tenmile Traverse should have the proper training and experience. One of the things that makes the trail so challenging is that there is no formal trail from about Peak 1 to Peak 4, including through the steep rocky section near the Dragon.

Last year, Summit County Rescue Group called for a helicopter hoist when a hiker became cliffed-out, where he didn’t feel comfortable climbing up or down, also near the Dragon between Peaks 2 and 3.

Nikki LaRochelle suggested adventurers looking to do the Tenmile Traverse for the first time go with someone who has done it before.

“The Tenmile Traverse is a very aesthetic, cool line in the mountains for people to do, but I think what makes it challenging is that there isn’t really an established route from Peaks 1 through 4,” Nikki LaRochelle said. “So it’s easy to get off course and find yourself all of a sudden in very difficult terrain. There’s more of a likelihood for mistakes than any of the 14ers in the state because the route is very difficult.”