Solo climber stranded on cliff after sliding 400 feet down ridge on Colorado mountain

A climber was stranded alone at 13,400 feet of elevation.

He had slid about 400 feet down a Colorado ridge on Saturday, May 28, and was stuck at the top of a cliff, the Chaffee County Search and Rescue North team said.

The climber was “cliffed out,” meaning he couldn’t travel up or down the 100-foot cliff.

Luckily, the climber was prepared. He had brought a device with him that may have saved his life, rescuers said.

“He was unable to ascend or descend from his position, so he activated an emergency distress call from his personal locator beacon,” the search and rescue team said in a May 30 news release.

Seven climbers hiked up the Missouri Mountain to reach the stranded climber. They were able to stage the rescue operation below the climber.

“From there, a team of two …climbers ascended a couloir just west of the subject and then traversed over to his location,” rescuers said. “They were able to lower the subject to a snow field below the cliff band and then rappel down as well.”

The climber wasn’t injured and was able to hike out of the trailhead with rescuers.

After about 10 hours, all search and rescue officials and the climber were off the ridge, according to the team.

“Over the past several years, (the rescue team) has responded to a number of calls in the area of the ridge between Missouri Mountain and Elkhead Pass,” rescuers said. “It can be a very challenging descent.”

This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Solo climber stranded on cliff after sliding 400 feet down ridge on Colorado mountain."