Pitkin County authorities rescued three snowmobilers stranded near Aspen on Wednesday morning after the group spent a night stuck in the backcountry.
The men first called law enforcement from a satellite phone on Tuesday evening to report their machines were stuck and that they needed help.
“Satellite phone reception was sporadic and thereby the information received was incomplete,” the county sheriff’s office said. “Information was relayed to the sheriff’s office that all three were uninjured and on snowshoes headed for the Goodwin-Greene Hut of the Braun Hut System.”
A Mountain Rescue Aspen team, accompanied by a sheriff’s deputy, deployed on Wednesday morning and found the snowmobilers about 10 a.m. in a snow cave in the Bowman Creek drainage area.
The rescuers assisted the men in getting their snowmobiles freed and removed from the backcountry.
Two of the men were from the Philadelphia area while the third was from Englewood.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
