Injured Hiker Left Behind by Coworkers Survives Night in Wilderness

Corporate retreats can be a great way to encourage team building, boost morale, and can give employees an opportunity to bond and relax. But that point was seemingly lost by a group of coworkers who recently left a man behind on a Colorado mountain, leaving their poor coworker to face the harsh elements overnight.

According to details posted to Facebook by the Chaffee County Search and Rescue, South earlier this week, the man had been part of a group of 15 coworkers who set off on a planned expedition to climb Mount Shavano in the southern Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains last Friday, Aug. 23. "In what might cause some awkward encounters at the office in the coming days and weeks, one member of their party was left to complete his final summit push alone," the post read.

The team had split into two groups, with one group completing summit attempts and a separate group ascending to the saddle and returning from there. However, when the lone hiker, who was dressed all in black, made an attempt to descend from the summit around 11:30 a.m., he became disoriented. Compounding the situation, the previous group had collected his belongings that he had left out in the boulder field to mark his path.

After finding himself in a steep boulder and scree field and not sure which way to go, he sent a pin drop to his coworkers who were already descending. Unfortunately, he was informed that he was on the wrong route and told to climb back up the slope to pick back up the trail. 

Hours later, when he believed he was nearing the trail the man sent another pin drop and text message to his group, but soon after a strong storm passed through the area with freezing rain and high winds. Again, he became disoriented, this time losing his cell phone signal in the storm.

As search teams set out to locate the man that evening, the inclement weather made reaching the summit unsafe. Additional resources were requested overnight, and a second search and rescue team set out on Saturday morning. Thankfully, the man eventually regained cell phone service to call 911, and he was located in a gully below the mountain range's Esprit Point. He later said that he had fallen "at least 20 times" attempting to get back up the step slopes before he was able to call for help.

"With a solid location, all efforts were focused on reaching and extracting the subject, which involved technical rope lowers and phenomenal cooperation and teamwork from all teams in the field," the emergency service writes. "The subject was stabilized and evaluated by SAR personnel, and transported to a hospital for further definitive care."

The agency stressed that anyone exploring the backcountry should always hike with a partner, pack some bright clothing, and "remember to toss the 10 Essentials in your daypack."

"This hiker was phenomenally lucky to have regained cell service when he did, and to still have enough consciousness and wherewithal to call 911," the post concluded. "Though he was located in a tertiary search area, it would have been some time before teams made it to that location on their own."