A Washington D.C. man who was running the Four Pass Loop in the Maroon Bells Wilderness area had to be flown early Monday morning to a hospital after developing acute mountain sickness.
Jung Wook Kim, 29, and a running partner were on the 27-mile loop Sunday over four 12,000-foot passes, a route that requires nearly 8,000 vertical feet of climbing, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department.
William Eden of San Francisco told authorities he and Kim were 14 miles into their run when Kim began developing symptoms. They made their way back across West Maroon Pass to within 1.5 miles of Crater Lake, when Kim’s condition deteriorated.
Eden left Kim with backpackers in the area and continued down for help.
Members of the Mountain Rescue Aspen team reached Kim at 12:30 a.m. Monday, and Summit County Flight for Life performed a nighttime mission to take him off the mountain.
He was flown to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver.
Mountain sickness is caused by reduced air pressure and low oxygen levels at altitude.
