Support Vail Mountain Rescue's New Gear

Co-organized

Ethan Whitson and 3 others are organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Jay Kraunelis.

Hi, my name is Ethan Whitson, and I am running the Leadville 100 to raise money for the Vail Mountain Rescue Group.

VMRG has played an extensive role in my life. In 2005, my aunt, Michelle Vanek, went missing on the Mount of the Holy Cross. A massive eight-day search ensued, spearheaded by VMRG, involving 800 people. Nothing was ever found; however, 19 years later, the search was reinvigorated by the discovery of a boot that belonged to Michelle.

I can definitively say that Aunt Michelle’s disappearance is still, to this day, the most impactful moment of my life. Some of my earliest memories are seeing my family on the news as I sat in my grandparents’ basement watching the search efforts unfold. Sitting and waiting with my cousins for positive news, for days, while no progress was made, is something that still burns deeply in my mind.

This event started a complex relationship with the mountains. They are my sacred space and, quite frankly, my personal church. However, there has always been the heavy feeling of Aunt Michelle's unresolved case every time I stepped into the alpine.

Although the search never truly ended, Michelle’s story lived in the back of the minds of first responders. The sheriff’s office never took down the grid search map from Michelle’s search, even after all the time had passed.

After the boot was found, Michelle appeared in a dream to Vail Mountain Rescue Group Board President Scott Beebe in the fall of 2023, saying she didn’t want to be found by men. Taking the dream to heart, Beebe turned over the case to the group’s growing number of female members.

A team was assembled, and they spent three weeks searching for Michelle’s remains with new information leading them in a different direction, a direction previously unsearched for the prior 18 years.

After three weeks, members of the team were able to locate Michelle’s remains.

I always held onto hope, but I thought the chances of this being resolved in my lifetime were close to impossible, especially with all the time that had passed.

My family and I are extremely grateful to the search team, and I am hoping that this fundraiser can help them get new gear so they can continue saving lives and providing answers to families.

Search and Rescue Groups are the backbone of the mountain community; they are criminally underfunded and underappreciated, and I hope we can help turn both of those around.

Thank You Notes To VMRG

If you were also impacted by this and would like to write a thank you note or message to the team that found Michelle, I am going to gather them and present them with the money at the end of August. Feel free to send them to my parents house (text me for address), via email to reed at theguidenetwork . com or text me directly (3/827-4770) and we can make sure they are passed along (it doesn't allow phone numbers or email address so they are abbreviated)