A father and his 5-year-old daughter were rescued late Friday night after they became separated from a snowmobile tour group in a mountainous area north of Steamboat Springs, officials say.
“They were a little cold but none the worse for wear,” said Barry Worstell, a helicopter pilot with Classic Air Medical, a rescue business that opened a satellite office in Steamboat Springs last year.
Worstell, a former Army pilot who flew combat missions during Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait in 1991, spotted the pair around 10:20 p.m. in a snow-blanketed meadow next to a fire below Hahn’s Peak in Routt County, he said.
“They put themselves in a good spot,” Worstell said Saturday.
The man and girl who were rescued were on vacation from their home in London, Worstell said. He didn’t recall their names.
The two were part of a tour when they became separated from a group headed to a mountain meadow Friday afternoon. They were about five hours overdue when they were rescued, said Sgt. Kurtis Luster of the Routt County sheriff’s department.
“It was kind of scary,” Luster said. “They were lost in a mountainous, forested area. It gets really cold at night.”
Luster said Classic Air Medical has been a great local resource.
“They are prepared to land almost anywhere at any time,” he said.
Worstell said it was a cool, clear night.
They were able to locate the missing people in an area about 8,700 feet in elevation within an hour after beginning the search.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, or
