CHAFFEE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
PRESS RELEASE
For release Thursday, June 30, 2011
Chaffee County Search and Rescue volunteers were sent to the Mount Princeton trailhead after a call was received at the Chaffee County Communications Center Thursday at about 1:15 pm. The caller, a male hiker on the mountain in obvious distress, used his cell phone to report that his woman companion had fallen and had suffered extensive injuries to her head. He told the dispatcher that they were just below the summit. A short time later he reported that she had lost consciousness, was not breathing, and that he was commencing CPR.
First units at the trailhead began a hasty ascent of the trail, taking with them only the minimal necessary equipment. Among these were Dr. Rick Ruider, a local physician and SAR volunteer who is intimately familiar with the terrain. Accompanying him was fellow SAR volunteer Brian Erikson. Two members of the Chaffee County EMS also began the ascent, along with four volunteers from Western State Search and Rescue. All had been diverted from the Missouri Gulch rescue operation.
Rescuers reached the hikers at about 5:30 pm, encountering along the way harsh weather conditions of rain, strong winds, and lightning. They discovered the two victims down a steep rocky chute off the main trail. The woman was deceased and her male companion emotionally distressed but otherwise unharmed. He was accompanied off the mountain by SAR volunteers, finally reaching the trailhead at about 7pm. The woman’s body remains at the accident scene and will be recovered tomorrow. An autopsy is planned.
Names of the two hikers were not disclosed, pending notification of relatives.
So sad. My condolences.