Colorado hiker wearing only a hoodie rescued after stranded on 13,000-foot mountain in 'severe' snowstorm
After hiking a 13,000 foot summit, the hiker found themselves without food and water and only a hoodie for warmth in a sudden snowstorm.
How to survive if you get lost or stranded in the woods this winter
Are you going on a hike in the woods this winter to check out the scenery? Be sure to prepare for whatever Mother Nature may throw your way.
CHAFFEE COUNTY, Colo. – A hiker is lucky to be alive after being rescued from a Colorado snowstorm wearing only a cotton hoodie. Crews initially thought the person was a snow-covered rock.
With no food, no water and no way to keep warm, a "severe" snowstorm closed in on the hiker around 7 p.m., who had just hiked a 13,000-foot high peak in Chaffee County when the snow started.
The hiker phoned Chaffee County Search and Rescue for help. The hiker said they chose to take an avalanche chute downhill rather than retrace their steps as the cold and dark set in, hoping to intersect a road.
Volunteer rescuers lowered the man with ropes and a sled, section by section.
(Chaffe County Search and Rescue / FOX Weather)
CAN COLD WEATHER MAKE YOU SICK?
With limited service, the all-volunteer search and rescue teams could not get a GPS signal. All they knew of his location was that the hiker was in an avalanche chute east of Cottonwood Lake.
Twenty-five crews checked out chutes east of the lake. After midnight, one team found footprints in 6 to 8 inches of new snow.
"This team continued to follow the footprints until they came upon an unusual looking rock at approximately 2 a.m.," Chaffee Search and Rescue wrote on social media. "Upon further investigation, it was determined it was not a rock but the subject sitting upright in a fetal position covered in snow."
![]()
Image 1 of 3Volunteer rescuers search for a man, without the aid of GPS. (Chaffe County Search and Rescue)
![]()
Image 2 of 3Volunteer rescuers search for a man, without the aid of GPS. (Chaffe County Search and Rescue)
![]()
Image 3 of 3Volunteer rescuers search for a man, without the aid of GPS. (Chaffe County Search and Rescue)
THE 7 PS OF COLD WEATHER SAFETY
Rescuers said that the man was "alive but very hypothermic" and "wearing only a cotton hoodie." They spent three hours warming him before attempting to head down the steep mountain with the injured man.
Crews called the extraction long, steep and arduous. They lowered the victim on ropes section by section. After an hour and a quarter, the man said he could walk if assisted,
By 7 a.m., he was in an ambulance headed to a hospital for evaluation.
Search and rescue advises all hikers not to depend only on a cell phone for GPS because service is spotty.
Here are the 10 essentials the group recommends everyone carry while hiking in the mountains:
- Hydration
- Nutrition
- Navigation
- Emergency shelter
- Extra Layers
- Illumination
- Fire Starter
- First aid kit
- Sun protection
- Repair kit