Two 19-year-old hikers from North Carolina were rescued early Wednesday morning after being trapped overnight on one of Colorado’s most dangerous fourteeners, sheriff’s officials said.
The hikers had summited the 14,130-foot mountain earlier that day, but got stuck on their way back when they tried to take a shorter route down the mountain’s north face, according to a news release from the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office.
“There is not an alternate route down the north face of Capitol Peak,” sheriff’s officials stated in the news release. “If there was a safe shortcut, it would be the standard route.”
Capitol Peak in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness west of Aspen has numerous drop-offs and loose, crumbling rock, according to the sheriff’s office.
Five climbers died on the peak in 2017 alone, sheriff’s officials said.
14ers.com, a website dedicated to assessing all of Colorado’s fourteeners, ranked Capitol Peak’s difficulty as a four out of five. Rank five is reserved solely for rock climbing routes with no hiking.
“This is the most difficult of the standard 14er routes,” the peak’s entry states. “It’s long, tedious and dangerous. … Climbers have died here.”
Sheriff’s officials said the North Carolina hikers called for help at about 8:20 p.m. Tuesday.
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A helicopter picked up two hoist-rescue technicians from Mountain Rescue Aspen at about 6 a.m. Wednesday and flew toward the peak, sheriff’s officials said.
Lightning in the area and early morning snow briefly delayed the search, but the aerial team was able to find the two stranded hikers and lift them into the helicopter, according to the sheriff’s office.
The helicopter flew in from the Colorado Army National Guard High-Altitude Aviation Training Site in Gypsum, about 60 miles north of Capitol Peak.
“Capitol Peak is not a ‘walk up’ peak, it is a technical climb,” sheriff’s officials stated in the release. “Climbers need to carry proper gear, which includes food, water, a helmet, a communication device and bright-colored, warm clothing. Climbers should be prepared for changing weather conditions.”
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