DECEMBER 6, 2020 — Mt. Bancroft, Colorado, USA — Kyle Homan

The Fall

I felt my foot slip. And I dropped.

I remember bouncing once or twice, then coming to a rest, feet downhill.

Thankfully, I had been wearing my helmet.

Initially, there was no pain, although I knew I had fallen quite a distance. I wiggled my toes. That was a good sign. I turned to see where I had fallen from, but instead found pain— in my lower back.

I looked to the three ice fishermen I’d spotted earlier on the frozen lake below, and called out to them for help. They scrambled up to meet me while I carefully slid down the steep snow patch I had landed on to find warmer level ground. We met at a rocky ledge, where I laid on my side, hugging a rock to stabilize my back, while they wrapped me in emergency blankets and body heat, keeping me alive and awake while they called in the cavalry.

Search and Rescue

It was probably somewhere between 3-4 hours after the initial fall when the amazing Alpine Rescue Team reached me. Based in Evergreen, CO, they’ve been responding to wilderness emergencies, providing complicated mountain search and rescue, day or night, 24/7. If you’re having a bad day in the mountains, they’ll really save your bacon, let me tell you…

Dawn Wilson, who, at the time of my rescue, had been with ART for 13 years, was the first by my side. I instantly knew I was in good hands. She kept me calm while the rest of her team hauled a litter and a mess of ropes and belay devices up the side of the mountain.

Then came the arduous task of lowering me down a dangerously steep slope littered with rocks, snow, and loose dirt. Thankfully, I didn’t have to lift a finger. And the Alpine Rescue Team kept me feeling safe the entire time. Eventually, we reached the shore of the frozen Loch Lomond. There was a brief conversation whether to drag the litter across the icy lake, or to carry me around the lake on the rocky, ankle-breaking shoreline.

The ride was certainly smoother than it would’ve been on the shore, but I can’t say it was the most pleasant experience of my life. Still, I felt completely safe in the Alpine Rescue Team’s very capable hands. They decided against sending me down the bumpy 2-mile approach road on the ATVs they had driven up to reach me, instead calling in Flight for Life. The pilot touched the helicopter on the rocky shore, the team loaded me in, and sent me safely on my way.

Flight for Life transported me to St. Anthony Hospital West of Denver (side note, helicopter is a fantastic way to avoid I-70 traffic), where I ultimately learned that I had broken my L1 vertebra.

L1 Media

By now you may have figured out where the name for L1 Media comes from.

As a way to remember this day, to reflect on mistakes made and lessons learned, and to honor the people that kept me safe and alive.

This is why we donate a portion of all retail proceeds to Search and Rescue. It’s the least we can do to pay back an organization that we feel needs more love.

This company was founded from a passion for the outdoors, on a principle of perseverance. Following the accident, as I recovered in the hospital, I could still be found answering emails and attending to production meetings via video call.

Up to this point, I had been working in video production of all shapes and sizes for several years, but wanted to combine my love of cameras with my love for the outdoors. The summer before my accident, I had started photographing trips for a whitewater rafting company in Colorado, Liquid Descent, and instantly knew I wanted to continue utilizing my photo and video knowledge in the outdoors.

Two weeks after the accident, I registered L1 Media as a company.

And yet, L1 Media had already been slowly taking shape…

…on the banks of the river, and editing in the back of my SUV. It had been taking shape on hiking trails and high ridges, in my mind, and in rambling conversations with my trail partners.

Ultimately, L1 Media is a collaborative creation by artists and photographers, filmmakers and printmakers, climbers, skiers, hikers, and dreamers.

It’s everything I hoped it would be, and so much more.

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