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Hiker rescued on Snowmass Mountain

Staff report

Mountain Rescue Aspen and a helicopter crew from the High Altitude Training Center in Gypsum rescued a hiker off Snowmass Mountain on Saturday morning.

A man hiking down Snowmass Mountain called Pitkin County Dispatch around 9:09 a.m. to report an injured hiker, part of a group of four, who had been hurt by a falling rock.

The man who called in the injury had summited Snowmass Mountain and was on his way down when he came across the group of four people, according to a Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office statement released Saturday. The hiker had sustained injured to his chest and wrist, but was conscious and breathing, although coughing up blood. The group was approximately 100 yards below the peak of Snowmass Mountain. The reporting party was able to identify the location for responders, according to the Sheriff’s Office.



The Sheriff’s Office paged Mountain Rescue Aspen members around 11 a.m. St. Mary’s Careflight was used to locate the patient and assess the situation, according to the Sheriff’s Office. A blackhawk helicopter crew from the High Altitude Aviation Training Site in Gypsum flew to the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport and picked up two Mountain Rescue Aspen members and flew to the Snowmass Lake area. The Sheriff’s Office reported that the helicopter crew retrieved the patient and the Mountain Rescue Aspen members at 11:53 a.m. The patient was then transported from the airport to Aspen Valley Hospital for further treatment.

Members of Mountain Rescue Aspen and High Altitude Aviation Training Site were out of the field by 1:55 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Office.