Overview
- CCSAR-N received the 911 call at 5:36 p.m. Saturday after a member of a three-person party tumbled roughly 200 feet on loose rock.
- A companion used a belt to secure the injured hiker to a fallen tree, then provided clothing and basic aid until rescuers arrived.
- With near-freezing temperatures and steep terrain ruling out a helicopter, teams climbed in and packaged the patient for ground evacuation.
- Rescuers used a litter and roughly 800 feet of rope to lower the subject about 1,600 vertical feet through Class III–IV terrain as rockfall persisted.
- The team reached the Colorado Trail and wheeled the patient to a trailhead, where Chaffee County EMS transported them to a hospital; all were out by 4:41 a.m.