Climber is rescued from a Colorado 14er after falling and getting caught by a rock

ALAMOSA COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) – A climber survived a dangerous fall thanks to an Alamosa County search and rescue team.

The climber was approaching the summit of Ellingwood Point, a 14er in Sangre de Cristos, when the accident occurred Sunday.

“During the fall, a large rock caught his leg and severely fractured his arm,” Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue (AVSAR) said.

The hiker was able to activate an SOS on his Garmin device, allowing AVSAR to immediately initiate a rescue operation, first by sending a helicopter to confirm the fallen climber’s location. Once that was confirmed, AVSAR put the rest of the pieces in place:

“AVSAR sent three highly modified truck crews with additional team members and technical equipment to Blue Lakes to be prepared for a possible technical extraction. Canon Helitack was then requested to bring in five STEP-qualified team members. The National Guard was also requested for a possible crane extraction.”

The hiker was unable to move on his own and had fallen into extremely steep and loose terrain, making rescue particularly difficult.

“Once all five STEP team members were inserted using a single skid insertion, it was deemed that a float skid extraction would be too dangerous for both the climber and the on-scene rescuers,” AVSAR said. “The National Guard was then activated to execute a hoist extraction of the climber. The five AVSAR team members on-scene splinted and treated the climber’s injuries and packed him onto the stretcher in preparation for lifting. The National Guard inserted a rescue technician on-scene with the climber and prepared him for lifting.”

Once the hiker got off the mountain, he was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital in the Front Range.

“We cannot thank our responding personnel enough for their life-saving assistance,” AVSAR said.

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