ESTES PARK — Joe Gartner and Scott McCoy didn’t set out to be heroes.
They just wanted to get in some backcountry skiing along the spine of Rocky Mountain National Park on Tuesday, before heading back to jobs and homes in Boulder.
Then, the two doctoral students in geology spotted a crumpled form near the base of Ptarmigan Glacier, near Notchtop Couloir.
They got closer and discovered a badly injured Sterling Jordan, who had lain there for more than 24 hours before the skiers found him.
“He was kind of coming to, he was kind of spacy, but he told us he was all right and didn’t need to be rescued,” said Gartner. “We thought he probably did.”
Their instincts were correct.
Jordan, 57, suffered a fractured rib and pelvis after he fell trying to climb Flattop Mountain on Monday.
Powerful winds, some clocked at up to 75 mph, probably blew Jordan down off the trail about 50 feet into some rocks, said park ranger Mark Pita, who headed the official rescue of Jordan.
Jordan crawled on his hands and knees about 1,000 feet and lay in ice and snow, hoping to gather enough strength to make a final descent Tuesday morning, Pita said.
“He knew he was in a bad situation,” Pita said. “There is no question that those two men (Gartner and McCoy) saved his life.”
Jordan was listed in fair condition at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. He has declined to talk publicly about his rescue.
But he did praise Gartner and McCoy for saving him, Pita said. “He couldn’t say enough about them.”
Gartner and McCoy said they were only out for a short trip and were descending Flattop when they saw Jordan. They quickly wrapped him in warm clothes, put gloves on him, and gave him water and a cookie.
They also considered carrying him down on their backs. But given the rough terrain and high winds, “we found that to be very difficult,” Gartner said.
Still, they knew they had to get him out of high avalanche-danger territory.
“By that time of day, it was getting warmer, and things were starting to come down,” Gartner said.
So, they steadied Jordan and they limped down as far as they could to a safer spot and where Gartner could use his cellphone.
Then for the next three hours, they took turns looking out for rescuers and keeping Jordan company.
“We just kind of hung out with him, telling jokes, and keeping him comfortable,” McCoy said. “We kept it light.”
Due to harsh conditions, it took rescuers hours to get Jordan to a trailhead and then to a hospital. They used a sled to ease him down the rugged terrain, Pita said.
Park officials said Jordan did not have a helmet or cellphone and should have told someone where he was going.
He was lucky that Gartner and McCoy came along, they said.
“We were just happy we could help,” McCoy said. “We didn’t start our day looking for someone to rescue.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
