Devastating accident at Rampart Range, CO

[Gatlin5]

This is pretty scary and sad, from KTMTalk:

Author OBgod3, KTMTalk

Two guys hit head on at 677b just north of 676, we hung out for a little while but there were folks already there, my buddy Kent went back to the road to guide the rescue in. I know they landed a helicopter too just past the wreck at a small clearing at 677 and 678.

One guy was unconscious, and was badly hurt with a possible spinal injury or broken hip. The other was awake but was bleeding badly from his face and may have had internal injuries. They were both in very bad shape. If anyone has an update please let us know. Two KTM's I believe, one of them the forks were twisted and pushed back almost to the engine.

Thanks to Mark (never met him before) and two of his buddies for taking care of these guys and for Kent hauling ...... back to rampart range rd for the rescue crew.

One thing to remember it appears these guys were solo and traveling in opposite directions, rampart IS dangerous and you have to make sure you know what’s beyond a corner before you whip through it.

Hope those guys end up ok because I have not seen one that bad in a long time.


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Follow up with picture from author marcus825 KTMTalk:

This was a horrific sight. I didn't see the actual accident, but from what I heard from the folks at the Sprucewood, two helicopters were brought in and EMTs used ATVs with some type of beefed up slider/stretchers to get the guys out. I was told one of them had passed and the other is fighting for his life. My prayers go out to both of them. Like obgod3 said, the area was wide open, but if both were traveling fast through the opposite sweepers, then I agree with KFF in regards to the "dance". I don't care how much riding experience one of us has over the other, these accidents will happen and could have easily been any one of us. I would say be careful out there, but its all in the cards.
http://www.riderdown.org/forum/coppermine/albums/userpics/10012/normal_KTMCRSH6.jpg

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Author OBgod3, KTMTalk


hey marcus, can you tell me if it was two KTM's in the accident, I am really worried as when I went out to the road down to sprucewood a lady was with the rangers and asking me if her husband was in the crash, her husband had been and hour late getting back. She said he was riding a a honda red and white, but I thought she said XR which one of the guys helping out was riding, but I did see a 450R and I am hoing that wasnt one of the bikes involved, it didnt look damaged but had some blood all over it.

Let me know if you can.

As far as the condition of the riders, I dont know and I am really hoping to find out, but both guys were breathing when I was there, but one was on his back and out like a light and the other as I said was bleeding pretty bad from the face and maybe spitting up blood from internal but there was so much I couldnt tell.

Lets just say our prayers for the riders and thier families.

[Gatlin5]

Update Sept 11, 2006 from obgod3 at KTMTalk;

Just got a message with an UPDATE on the riders.


We rode by the accident on Sunday at about 10:30am. A troop of guys
came to the scene about 30 minutes later to recover the bikes. A local guy
named Donivan on a 450 Honda hit head on into a KTM 520. I do not know the
KTM rider's name. I understand he was fairly young and also lived in the
Sprucewood area.
We were told two flight for life choppers came in and had they not made
the trip, both riders might have died. We were told Donivan had both lungs
coplasped, shattered pelvis, broke leg and other injuries. The KTM rider had
his jaw driven back into his throat and other injuries. The bike recovery
crew said both riders made it through the night (Saturday).
The KTM had the forks ripped out of the triple clampsand the front
wheel destroyed. The Honda had bent radiator, brake lever broke and header
destroyed. The area they hit was wide open with a slight curve. You would
think they would see each other but were probally going too fast.
This is all I can tell you. We slowed down and rode much slower for the
rest of the day. Very sobering.
Jay D.

[Administrator]

My prayers are out there, I hate hearing these types of stories

[50ccMoM]

Very sad to hear of a story like this. My prayers go out to the injured riders and there families.

This could happen to any of us. Really makes you think.

[Tatonka]

Rampart is the closest riding area to me, I ride there frequently and had several friends riding there the day of this crash. Head ons are the single biggest fear of anyone who rides there and most take as many precautions as possible to avoid them.

There is no easy solution to this problem. There have been many good ideas discussed, hopefully a positive change can come from this tragic scenario. We definitely need to broach this subject cautiously and not trigger a knee jerk reaction that would be hard to swallow.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the riders and families involved. Rampart is a great place to ride, it needs to be preserved and maintained for all of us to enjoy safely - today & tomorrow.

[TwinTurbos]

I followed the story this weekend in the CO Trailriders emails we get and was relaying info to Bruce almost every time he called from CA. It was very upsetting as many of our friends ride there as well as Bruce. Incidents like this make you stop and think to say the least. I definitly can empathize with the family since that is the roll I would be in. My thoughts and prayers go out to both the riders and their families.

[tgm_snopro]

first off my prayers are with the riders- wish ya a speedy recovery
-- my only suggestion to preventing head ons comes from my 1000's of miles logged shredding trails in northern mich. on snowmobiles. the general rule is always stay to the right, the same as if you were on a road. thats how the offroad trails around home in ohio are too. ya just gotta be careful and pay attention. but accidents happen theres no good way around it.