Here's an article about the new fees that hikers to Pikes Peak will be charged if they call 911 for a ride down and aren't injured. Up to $500. Not sure if that's per person or per party. I'm sure the rangers around there have seen a lot of dumb and ill-prepared people huffing it up the world famous mountain.

And this is just for a ride down. I wonder if they were already charging for full-blown SAR operations before this fee?

Seems reasonable (it's only $100 if the road is open!) and it's clear that this is just for people who aren't injured.

The alternative is that people will call 911 and claim they are injured and so trigger a bigger rescue operation /medical evac.
I suspect it will serve as better a warning to people than the usual notices.

About friggin' time!

I wouldn't claim injury unless you are ready to break your leg before the responders show up. If they check you out and clear you, the fine could go up, along with some time in the pokey.

Someone should start a service offering rides down, in season. DW and I took a van down from Mount Washington for about $25, maybe a couple less.

Or rent these:
http://www.landroller.com/index.html

...and band-aids...

you took the words right out of my mouth.....

Could just rig the fakers to drag behind the train, so they bounce along the cogged rail, all the way down the mountain...

That Cog train is something else! If only they had decent seats in it. Darned near broke my back last time, but what a view!!!

I wonder if setting a "price" on calling 911 just for a ride doesn't end up legitimizing the very action that they'd like to discourage? I mean, if the fee can be as little as $100, and you're on vacation and spending a lot of money anyway, what's another $100, some might think. Or they might not think it's a big deal to the authorities if it only "costs" $100 to go get them down.

Actually, if these hikers received something that looks more like an itemized hospital bill (what? $100 for two aspirin???), then I think they'd think twice about whether they can get up and down without help.

Well, since the cost of a round-trip ride on the Cog train is only $31 to $35, I'd say charging rescuees $100 for a ride down the hill would be more profitable. 911 would get the call, let the rescuee know when the next train is coming by, and let the Railroad folks know they will have some pickups and to get the money up front before letting them on the train, at least that's the way I'd do it. The railroad can do VISA, and who doesn't travel up Pike's Peak these days without their plastic?

Cardiac stress isn't as obvious as a broken bone sticking out of your skin. It's not going to be obvious at the scene who is in trouble and who isn't.

Cog train doesn't run all the time. Hikers can get up there after the last trains has left and.... they call 911. Bet that's the case.

I've ridden the train a number of years ago and they wanted to see your ticket both ways- probably to ensure car riders don't try an alternate route down. Don't know if there is provision to sell a one-way-down ticket.

I think that a taxi service would be willing to do the retrieve for a healthy sum once the 911 operators determine no medical emergency exists.

Seems like charging these folks is a great idea.

wonder what took 'em so long to figure that one out?

Not sure how I feel about it. Many, many moons ago, I was the caretaker at Barr Camp (on Barr Trail...not the Pikes Peak Highway).

I've seen even seasoned hikers...those who hiked up 2-3 times a month year-round, experience problems.

I will say that the article is right to a certain extent. Countless times I've seen flatlanders drive in the night before and wheeze their way up the trail ill-prepared mentally, physically, and lacking equipment only to require assistance. I put people up in the cabins and fed them so they could still do it on their own the next day. If the cog railway is still running, the camp is about 1.5 miles away and if they can arrange ahead of time, and be at Mt. View on time, they can usually ride down for a prorated fare (space available).

On the other side, I'd much rather people call when they need help rather than decide not to do so because of a $500 tab. I'd rather not read about someone who died because they were afraid to call.

People enter the mini and full marathons and find themselves ill-suited even though they are good runners.

I'll even confess here that a weather snap and full-on whiteout surprised me on my first ascent on Pikes Peak. I was 18, a seasoned hiker/backpacker and in the Army. My small group wasn't the only one. We met up with other groups well above timberline. We all banded together and got through it. It ended up being all ice and snow to the top...not the trail I'd hoped for and read about. What a surprise it was when we got to the top and the facility was open and they announced the last train would go down in an hour. Boy...those oily-as-all-hell doughnuts never tasted so good. I did wonder whether I'd make the trip up. That was in the days well before cell phones, and I didn't even know about the road. However, by the time we reached the summit, the extra couple of feet of snow made the road impassable.

Anyway, I know it can be a problem...I'm just not sure how I feel about the issue. Anyone can run into a problem. I'm not sure how one deals with the lazy or stupid. It's easy for me to voice the visceral reaction to pure stupidity. But like most things, we tend to focus on the fringe elements...those that really hack us off, and not really see the majority of folks who are also made to look poor by the fringe. When I was there I received my fair share of prank rescue requests, had to deal with the fakers looking for attention, the ill-prepared, and the full-on stupid. I think it would have driven me insane to focus on the fringe and not on the majority of others.

Thanks for sharing your perspective, Yeti.