On Friday, February 6th, two male climbers on Kiener’s Route in the Longs Peak area contact park rangers from Rocky Mountain National Park in seek of assistance. The two individuals, one 47-year-old and one 50-year-old, were located around 14,000 feet, reporting that they were incapacitated and unable to continue.
It was already night when the two contacted rangers, though they reported that they were not prepared to remain overnight. Rangers kept in contact with the duo until early Saturday morning, when two National Park Search and Rescue teams, along with members of Larimer County Search and Rescue, began the hike toward the Longs Peak area.
High winds limited operations, and a U.S. Forest Service helicopter was forced to abort an attempted flight. A Flight For Life helicopter was requested as well but stood down for the same reason. Additional resources were requested from the Colorado National Guard Army Aviation Support Facility at Buckley Space Force Base and a Chinook helicopter, along with rescuers from Alpine Rescue and Rocky Mountain Rescue were able to land on the summit of Longs Peak around 2:15pm.
In the meantime, the two climbers had moved to the summit, allowing crews to quickly locate the duo and fly them to Upper Beaver Meadows Road inside Rocky Mountain National Park. Recreators in alpine environments are reminded to plan for ice, snow, high winds, and subzero temperatures, even when the snowpack is below average for the season.
