In the summer of 2024, a group of 15 colleagues were hiking Mount Shavano as part of a corporate retreat fundraising hike. They left at sunrise and successfully summited the 14,230’ peak, but they made an almost fatal mistake. As the clouds came in, the main group descended from the summit, passing one of their slower colleagues who was left to make the final summit push alone. This was not his first 14er, but he was feeling off that day. After summiting, he became disoriented in the clouds. He lost the trail in a steep boulder field as the worsening storm was closing in. At 9pm, in buffeting winds and freezing rain, his colleagues called 911 to activate Chaffee County Search and Rescue South. The volunteer team searched all night, but despite many ground teams, a drone team, and a medevac helicopter, they could not locate him. Colorado Search & Rescue Association’s state coordinators were activated in the middle of the night to assist with incident planning, running an advanced cell phone locating processes, and finding more ground rescuers, search dog teams, drone teams, technical rescue teams, and aviation resources. Overall, 10 backcountry SAR teams from across Colorado responded to the call with nearly a hundred responders. They had a brief window before the weather got even worse.
Against the odds, the hiker was found by a drone team at midday. He was hypothermic and severely injured, but alive. In dangerous terrain, on a trailless side of the mountain far removed from cell phone reception, an expert team of rescuers brought him safely to an ambulance. He had fallen many times in the darkness, narrowly avoiding sheer cliffs and falling rocks. Alive and well today, he was fortunate to have survived to tell his tale.
Backcountry search and rescue incidents like this are common. Colorado Search and Rescue serves at the intersection of our thriving multi-billion-dollar outdoor recreation industry and our awe-inspiring but dangerous mountains, canyons and rivers. We are Colorado’s backcountry safety net. Our goal is for backcountry recreationists to create indelible memories, develop deeper relationships, and find solace in the backcountry – and then to return home safely to their loved ones.
