ARAPAHOE NATIONAL FOREST, Colorado – Colorado’s Alpine Rescue Team responded to reports of an unresponsive hiker above a cliff band near Saint Mary’s Glacier on Thursday, June 13. According to a Facebook post from the group, reports began as a stranded party around 2:20 PM, but it was soon determined that the individual had fallen to the location.
Flight For Life Colorado was called to the scene while rescue teams climbed to the individual. Upon contact with the subject, it was determined that he was deceased. Teams performed a technical evacuation and brought the individual out of the field.
According to NBC News, the hiker was a male and had fallen a significant distance over a ridge. A spokesperson for the rescue team, Jake Smith, told the news organization that the recovery took about four hours, requiring the man to be lowered 300 feet. He appeared to be lacking proper equipment for the terrain, with just micro spikes on his feet.
“We don’t have the full picture of what happened. He was hiking. We suspect he was probably on the ridge line up above where he had fallen. There’s a big snow cornice that forms up there. I don’t know if he was on the edge or part of it broke off or if he decided to descend and misjudged how steep the slope was.” – Jake Smith
Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased at this time.
