Two hikers who worked last winter in Aspen but were unfamiliar with the summer terrain went up instead of down and wound up spending a cold Sunday night stranded on a cliff on Aspen Mountain.
Four Mountain Rescue Aspen crew members spent part of the night with the pair before helping them to descend safely at daylight, authorities said.
Jennifer Yurechko, 19, and Corey Thomas, 23, were following an animal trail when they became lost on the rocky west side of the mountain. They decided to go to the top and try to reach help from there, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department.
In the steep terrain, they tied themselves together with a nylon rope, according to rescuers. They neared the top at dark, and because of loose rocks, they were stranded and called for help on a cell phone at about 9 p.m., according to the sheriff’s department.
Thomas was dressed in shorts, T-shirt and sandals. Yurechko wore jeans, a T-shirt and running shoes. The low temperature in Aspen overnight was 42 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Mountain Rescue reached them about 1 a.m. with food and blankets, as the pair told the crew they were “freezing,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
According to the Mountain Rescue Aspen, two of their four most recent rescues involved people who had climbed up and couldn’t get down.
Hometowns for Yurechko and Thomas were not available Monday evening.
