After surviving a night of rain, sleet and 35-mph gusts at the summit of Longs Peak, rescuers at Rocky Mountain National Park strapped Jeff Vil lano to a stretcher Friday and began lowering him down the vertical northeast face.
“In that section, it’s extremely steep. They’re using ropes and technical equipment,” park spokeswoman Kyle Pat terson said.
The 37-year-old Lakewood man was on his way down the Keyhole route Thursday morning after reaching the 14,259- foot summit when he fell 20 feet and broke his leg. The cause of his fall was unknown.
Villano initially was helped by a registered nurse passing by on the trail. A helicopter then dropped 11 rescuers off on Longs Peak, where they hiked down to Villano at 13,600 feet and took him to the summit to await a medical helicopter.
Nightfall and “squirrelly winds” prompted the team to change plans and camp for the night, Patterson said.
Extra supplies – including sleeping bags, heavy-duty nylon sacks for shelter and insulin for Villano, who is diabetic – were dropped off by helicopter.
Faced with high winds and low visibility that prevented a helicopter rescue again Friday morning, rescuers opted to carry Villano down the mountain via the historic Cable route, where bolts remain that once supported steel cables to aid rock climbing.
After lowering Villano, rescuers planned to carry him across a field covered with snow to a flat area scattered with boulders. There, a helicopter will land if conditions are good. Otherwise, Villano will be carried all the way to the trailhead, a 6-mile hike from the boulder field.
Nicki Villano said she thought her husband’s hiking partner and boss was playing a practical joke when he called Thursday to tell her about the accident.
“Then I immediately became sick to my stomach,” she said.
Nicki Villano said her husband is an experienced hiker who has climbed several of Colorado’s fourteeners, including Longs Peak. She said he prepared for three months for this hike.
“I just think he’s got an amazing spirit. He keeps me happy all the time,” she said.
His friend and boss at Prestige Imports in Lakewood, Lance Dickson, accompanied Villano on the trail.
“During the whole trip, he kept saying, ‘I love doing this stuff.’ He kept high-fiving me and hugging me,” Dickson said.
Staff writer Abbe Smith can be reached at 303-820-1201 or asmith@denverpost.com.
