FRISCO, COLO. — Rescuers battled high winds and avalanche danger to save a hiker who was stranded overnight in subzero temperatures on 14,265-foot Quandary Peak.
The man was treated and released at Summit Medical Center in Frisco on Sunday. His name and the nature of his injuries were not released.
The man had set out Saturday on a day hike of Quandary, about five miles south of Breckenridge and 60 miles southwest of Denver.
His friends called the Summit Rescue Group when he had not returned by 9 p.m.
A team set out at midnight but was turned back by high winds at treeline about three hours later.
“They had to turn around because the weather was so bad they couldn’t even see each other,” said Joe Ben Slivka, mission coordinator for the rescue group.
They set out again at dawn Sunday and spotted tracks believed to be the missing hiker’s at about 10 a.m. A Flight For Life helicopter crew then spotted the man stranded on a steep slope.
Reaching the man was difficult because of the steep pitch and the danger of an avalanche, Slivka said.
The man was able to descend the slope with the help of the lead rescuer. A snowmobile carried him to an ambulance, which took him to Summit Medical Center.
Information from: Summit Daily News,
