Traveler without food, water or cold weather gear saved from Colorado 13er after 10-hour rescue – Greeley Tribune
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Chaffee County Search and Rescue North carries a person down the Chaffee County 13er after an unprepared hiker was caught in windy weather without adequate food or water and wearing a cotton jacket with no other ways to keep himself warm. The hiker suffered from hypothermia. (Provided by North Chaffee County Search and Rescue)
An unprepared hiker who attempted to summit the 13er in Chaffee County on Nov. 8 was found and dropped safely by northern Chaffee County Search and Rescue nearly 10 hours later, a Facebook post said. The individual was captured in inclement weather and was suffering from hypothermia when he was found during search and rescue.
In the post, the individual found himself out of the water without food and wearing only a cotton jacket with no other way to warm himself. As darkness fell, they chose to traverse an icy slope to try to reach the road rather than walk the same way they had come up.
The person was able to contact search and rescue around 7 p.m., but his phone’s GPS was unable to pinpoint the exact location, according to the post. A response team of about 25 search and rescue members was dispatched to search for the person, and at approximately 12:42 a.m. on Nov. 9, they found footprints in six to eight inches of fresh snow as they descended into the gully. .
At around 2 a.m., the team came across a strange-looking rock, only to discover that it was a living individual, but suffering from hypothermia, curled up in a fetal position and covered in snow. After warming the person for three hours, the team began extracting him around 5 a.m. and he was evaluated in an ambulance by 7 a.m.
“CCSAR-N and CCSAR-S would like to remind everyone that the 10 Essentials are ‘essential’ for a reason,” the search and rescue group posted on Facebook. “Even though you may not plan to be out in inclement weather, these 10 essentials are essential to help keep you going. …It’s also always a good idea to research the weather before hiking and prepare accordingly.
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