A work retreat took an unexpected turn when a man ended up spending the night alone on Colorado’s Mount Shavano.
On Friday, Aug. 23, around 9:00 p.m. local time, the Chaffee County Search and Rescuesaid they responded to a report of an overdue hiker.
The unidentified man was in a “group of 15 hikers on an office work retreat that had left the Blanks Cabin Trailhead at sunrise that morning,” rescue officials said. The group split off in sections, with one “group completing summit attempts and a separate group ascending to the saddle and returning from there.”
“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,” they added.
Colorado Man Left Behind by Co-Workers During Office Retreat Survives Night Alone on Mountain Summit.
Chaffee County Search and Rescue – South/Facebook
After reaching the summit of Mount Shavano earlier in the day, the hiker attempted to descend the mountain, but became “disoriented.”
“In his initial attempts to descend, he found himself in the steep boulder and scree field on the northeast slopes toward Shavano Lake. Concerned for himself, he sent a pindrop to co-workers already descending,” officials wrote. “These co-workers informed him his route was wrong and to climb back up the slope to regain the trail.”
A while later, officials said “he sent another pin drop and text to his group that he was near” the trail they began their hikes from, but that then a “strong storm passed through the area.”
“He again became disoriented, losing cell phone signal as well,” officials said.
At around 9:00 p.m. local time, the overdue hiker was reported to rescue officials, who deployed two teams as well as a drone pilot. However, with the “high winds and freezing rain” complicating search efforts, officials could find “no trace of the missing subject” until the following morning.
Luckily, that morning the hiker was able to establish cell phone service and called 911. He was then located “above the North Fork drainage, in a gully below Espirit Point,” rescue officials said.
“This hiker was phenomenally lucky to have regained cell service when he did, and to still have enough consciousness and wherewithal to call 911,” Chaffee County Search and Rescue South said of the hiker’s rescue.
After being stabilized and evaluated by search and rescue officials, the hiker was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
