Two snowshoers were rescued after a long trip to one of Colorado’s 10th Mountain huts caused one to suffer from frostbite. According to Mountain Rescue Aspen, the snowshoers initially departed in a group of seven from the Benedict Hut to the McNamara Hut on Thursday, January 2, before five decided to turn around at approximately 1:00 PM.
The two snowshoers who continued on promised to text the other five on their Garmin Inreach device upon arrival at the McNamara Hut, but the other five had still not heard from the two by 12:29 AM. The group called the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office to report them overdue, and Mountain Rescue Aspen (MRA) was made aware of the situation.
Around 8:00 AM on Friday, January 3, the five had still heard nothing from the two snowshoers, and a combined interagency mission began to locate the individuals. Later the friends did receive an InReach message stating that the snowshoers had made it to the McNamara Hut and that they were fine, but MRA members continued to the hut to make sure they were okay.
Two MRA members arrived at the hut around 9:47 AM, making contact with the two and discovering that one had suffered from frostbite and would need assistance to get back to their vehicle. Two Deputies met with the members of MRA to coordinate the extraction, including their gear. The two were back at their car by 12:00pm, and both refused further medical care before self-transporting to the hospital.
The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the 16 members of the all-volunteer group of Mountain Rescue Aspen, the 2 Pitkin County Deputies, and the 2 Open Space and Trails Rangers for all their hard work
The McNamara Hut is one of many in the 10th Mountain System, located at an elevation of 10,360 feet.