Search-and-rescue teams in Mesa County were zeroing in tonight on seven trapped snowmobilers who apparently built a fire to keep warm, according to the dispatch supervisor.
Crews from the Mesa sheriff department spotted the flames on a ridge near Leon Lake and are making a second attempt to reach them after an initial effort failed, said Heather Benjamin, the public affairs spokeswoman.
“It is zero to 10 degrees tonight,” Benjamin said. “But the good news is that they seem to be pretty prepared. They appear to have built a fire, and our initial snowmobile group believes they have located them.”
The team is stuck at an altitude of about 8,300 feet.
They were navigating an area south of Vega Reservoir and about an hour east of Powderhorn Ski Resort, when they became “stuck,” said Laura Etcheverry, head of dispatch.
Another member of the trapped team, a Grand Junction man, was able to escape, reporting the incident to authorities about 7 p.m.
“We think we have this under control,” said Benjamin.
