When the Evergreen-based Alpine Rescue Team received a call over Memorial Day weekend for a skier who had taken a 1,000-foot fall through a couloir off Torreys Peak, just east of Summit County, the rescuers said the conditions were abysmal.

At least one person higher up on the 14,267-foot peak had limited cell service to call for help, but the injured party and those down with him in the couloir had none, Smith said. However, the skiers did have one piece of technology that proved invaluable that day: powerful walkie-talkies.

The simple radios proved critical that day. Now, the Colorado Search & Rescue Association is highlighting the potential for family radio service or GMRS （general mobile radio service ） portable radios to save lives in the backcountry.

“Having direct communications with rescue subjects can be crucial during emergencies,” Beckman wrote. “Although (search and rescue) teams do not actively monitor any FRS channel, establishing a common go-to channel when (search and rescue) has been activated by other means and are en route can greatly aid rescue operations and ultimately help save lives.”

Overall, the radios helped make what could have been a difficult rescue go smoother and more efficiently, Smith said. Moving forward, Alpine Rescue Group mission coordinators will likely ask those in need of rescue at the start of a call whether they have a family radio service or general mobile radio service radio on them, he added.

“They’re just great tools to have, because there are so many places where cell phone reception is not possible or not very good or it’s in and out,” DeBattiste said. “And if you’re in a group or a group moving at different paces or with different objectives, it’s a tool for them to stay in contact.”