Summit County Rescue Group opens new HQ in Colorado's high country, with better access to training, equipment storage

After years of planning and hard work, one of Colorado's busiest search and rescue organizations is operating out of a bigger and better-equipped headquarters. The Summit County Rescue Group, which responds to nearly 200 backcountry emergencies every year, has officially opened the doors to its new facility in Frisco.

The project began in 2019, with design work completed in 2022 and construction kicking off in 2023, according to the organization. The new building is a significant upgrade from their previous setup, which Mission Coordinator Ben Butler admitted was fully functioning, but was a "patchwork." In previous meeting rooms, volunteers would huddle in stairwells during packed meetings due to a lack of space, and essential equipment was scattered across the county, adding difficulty in maintaining gear when it wasn't being used. 

Now, the roughly 75 dedicated volunteers have a spacious classroom with the ability to record trainings to watch at a later date if people can't make it. Butler said having a space where they could "get every single one of our volunteers in there comfortably for any given training was really important to us."

The new building also brings everything under one roof—a critical change for a group that frequently deals with time-sensitive emergencies. Without having to track down what equipment is where, not to mention the weather challenges that came from the old storage barn, they can run to missions quickly. 

"Ice would form at the entrance to the garage doors, these big ice berms, and we would have some of our volunteers help with chipping," Butler explained. He expects that won't be the case with this new facility. 

"We'd had some calls... where time had been of the essence, and having everything here had allowed us to get to different trailheads much quicker and have some really positive outcomes," Butler said.

Beyond storage, the new headquarters significantly enhances training capabilities. The group's extensive program covers everything from lost person behavior to avalanche situations and high-angle rope rescues. Butler noted they could now replicate some of the scree evacuations sometimes seen on local 14'er Mt. Bierstadt, allowing volunteers to refine complex techniques indoors, regardless of weather or time of day. 

The new headquarters stands as a testament to immense community support, something Butler said was essential to their mission. "We couldn't have done what we do without that support... and we were lucky in that respect," he said. "We would not exist as we do without the support of Summit County and all facets of Summit County, the residents of Summit County, Summit County government, Summit County Sheriff's Office, the county commissioners, our state representatives, our national representatives... they all support Sonoma County Rescue Group."

Butler said he's incredibly proud of the new home base. "We aren't patchwork anymore; this is a state-of-the-art facility."