A young solo hiker was rescued from the Continental Divide recently when his gear failed on a traverse at 13,000 vertical feet.
Summit County Sheriff’s Office reports the juvenile boy had just summited Grizzly Peak via Loveland Pass on foot when he tried for a summit of nearby Torrey’s Peak, one of two 14,000-foot peaks in the area.
He encountered trouble on the icy saddle between Grizzly and Torrey’s when his microspikes broke. Those are one-size-fits-all traction devices. They’re designed for icy sidewalks, not exactly mountaineering.
Without spikes, the hiker couldn’t safely traverse portions of the steep, slick saddle. But he was prepared in other ways.
“Using his emergency gear, he was able to call for help,” the sheriff’s office writes in a report. “Deputies and members of the Summit County Rescue Group arranged for a Flight for Life helicopter. The helicopter first picked up a member of the rescue group before landing near the stranded hiker.”
The rescuer helped the boy off the mountain and back to the trailhead with no injuries, and maybe a newfound respect for the old Alfred Wainwright saying: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.”
Preview image via 14ers.com.