Durango – A helicopter belonging to the remote and exclusive Tall Timber resort crashed Sunday afternoon high in the San Juan National Forest and will have to be dismantled and removed piece by piece, owner Denny Beggrow said Monday.
No one was injured in the wreck, Beggrow said. His son and resort manager, Johnroy Beggrow, was conducting a snow survey with the pilot and another staffer when the helicopter went down above 11,000 feet near Emerald Lake and the Weminuche Wilderness.
“We don’t know exactly what happened,” Beggrow said. “We think the wind caught him. The helicopter sat down hard and rolled in deep snow.”
The Beggrows own property around Emerald Lake, which is surrounded by national forest and wilderness. The helicopter crew was looking to see how much snow remained around the alpine lake, where guests of Tall Timber are ferried by helicopter for picnics and hikes.
Tall Timber, situated about 25 miles north of Durango in the rugged Animas River Canyon, is accessible only by the resort’s helicopters or by the antique tourist railroad, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge.
Forest Service officials could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
Beggrow said the resort would remove the wreckage.
Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or edraper@denverpost.com.
