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Several members of a search and rescue team in Colorado were injured Wednesday in a “rock avalanche” as they navigated dangerous terrain to retrieve the body of a missing hiker in a mountain, the officials said. authorities.
Kelly McDermott of Madison, Wisc., Was late to return from an ascent on Capitol Peak, a mountain with an elevation of 14,130 feet located about 14 miles west of Aspen, Colorado, when a friend took alerted the authorities on Sunday, the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office said.
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An assistant located McDermott’s car near the Capitol Lake trailhead on Sunday night and a search began the next morning with members of Mountain Rescue Aspen, a completely volunteer group.
McDermott had set out to climb Capitol Peak Mountain 14.00 feet 14 miles west of Aspen, Colorado, over the weekend. A friend reported his disappearance to the authorities when he had not returned on Sunday evening.
(Rescue County Summit)
McDermott’s search continued for days until Wednesday, when rescuers aboard a Colorado National Guard Blackhawk helicopter spotted McDermott’s body about 500 feet below a ridge known as the “Knife’s Edge” near the top of Capitol Peak, the sheriff’s office said.
Officials said it appeared the hiker had fallen and sustained fatal injuries at some point before rescuers arrived. Capitol Peak is considered a dangerous mountain, according to the Sheriff’s Office, and “is known for its many exhibits and loose, crumbling rock.”
As rescuers began to climb towards McDermott’s location, they heard someone from a group of recreational climbers above their location shout “Rocks!”
Four rescuers were caught in the massive slide which a rescuer described as “an avalanche of rocks”.
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One rescuer escaped injury while two others sustained minor injuries to one extremity and moderate injuries to the lower body, respectively. A fourth rescuer was seriously injured after a stone hit them, sending them about 20 feet into the air like a “rag doll,” authorities said.
Team members provided medical attention until the injured could be rushed to hospital. Two injured limbs were treated and released while the third underwent emergency surgery. No further information on the injuries of the rescuers was immediately provided.
As rescuers develop a plan to retrieve McDermott’s body, officials said unsafe conditions on the mountain could delay extrication for days or weeks.
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