The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
One hiker killed
Crested Butte Search and Rescue team members responded to a backcountry call that ended in a death on Sunday. Four members of the team along with a half dozen members of the Western State Search and Rescue organization headed over the Devil’s Punchbowl to Hagerman Peak, where a group of hikers had been caught in a rockslide.
According to the Aspen Times, two hikers out of a group of five were injured when a slide occurred just below the 13,000-foot ridge of Hagerman Peak. Although the peak is located just inside the Gunnison County line, it is just 11 miles from Aspen and sits next to Snowmass Mountain.
Mountain Rescue Aspen responded first to the call and by the time they got to the scene, one of the hikers had passed away from apparent chest injuries.
“Because of the emergency nature of the situation, we have a mutual-aid agreement with Aspen and they were able to respond quicker than us,” said Crested Butte Search and Rescue president Nicholas Kempin. “It takes us at least three hours to get back there through the Punchbowl.
“So our team was essentially back-up,” Kempin continued. “We knew helicopters would be involved and you can’t assume everything will be smooth when helicopters are part of a rescue. A lot of variables come into play. In this case, a military Blackhawk helicopter responded and was able to evacuate several people from the scene. By the time we got there, the helicopter operation was over and successful.”
Kempin said the rockslide was unexpected and people had traveled the ridge earlier in the day. The identity of the killed hiker was not released as of Monday but the Denver Post identified the victim as a 24-year-old man from Connecticut.
Kempin remarked that the team has had a busy end of summer. “Since the article in the News in early August reporting how slow the summer was for us, we have been called out quite a bit,” he said. “I’d say we have had at least six calls in the last month. It is slowing down out there in terms of tourists but hunting season is just around the corner.”
And the local search and rescue team is ready if needed.
