FRISCO, Colo. — It started out as a chance to warm up and get reacquainted with rescue operations before the winter ski season.
Six years later the fall training program for Colorado Rapid Avalanche Deployment or C-RAD has grown into a lot more.
This week rescue dogs and their handlers have come to Summit County from all over the country.
Teams will spend four days learning how to warm up before a mission. They'll learn how to balance on rubber balls for agility and how to avoid distractions by running course drills through and around other dogs, according to C-RAD coordinator Hunter Mortensen.
“We have over 30 dogs from all over the west here we’re putting them through the paces,” said Mortensen. “We’re getting them back on track and back in focus and conditioned as the athletes.”
Teams will also load into helicopters and boats for some training with time being the critical element.
“As soon as the clock starts, we have about a half-hour,” said Mortensen.
Teams also practice getting into helicopters and do drills running in between other dogs to work on focus and distractions.
Teams will be in Summit County for four days of training then head back to their ski areas or search and rescue teams to apply the knowledge they learned.
The training wraps up on Thursday and by then they just may have a little snow falling during their practice.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Feature stories from 9NEWS