A man hiking in Colorado with more than a dozen colleagues on a work retreat was rescued a day after he became separated from the group, officials said.
The group of 15 hikers left the Blanks Cabin Trailhead at sunrise Friday. Part of the group completed summit attempts on Mount Shavano, while others ascended to the saddle and returned, the Chaffee County Search and Rescue said on Facebook.
One person got separated from the group after summiting. The search and rescue group said the man turned to descend and became disoriented after others in the group picked up the trail makers signaling their route.
Growing concerned, the man sent his location to his coworkers.
The coworkers told him that his route was wrong and to climb back up the slope to find the trail. As he climbed back up, he sent his location again and texted that he was near the trail but a storm caused him to become disoriented again, the group said. The man also lost cellphone service.
The search and rescue group said it was notified around 9 p.m. Friday that the man was missing. Search teams, a drone pilot and a helicopter searched for him without success.
"During the course of the night, teams encountered high winds and freezing rain, which made reaching the summit unsafe, and presented many difficulties for the drone operator," officials said.
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The man was rescued Saturday after his cellphone service returned and he called 911. The man told officials that he fell about 20 times on the steep slopes and after the last fall was unable to get up.
"But very luckily he regained enough cell service to make his call," the search and rescue group said, joking that the incident may "cause some awkward encounters at the office in the coming days and weeks."
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"This hiker was phenomenally lucky to have regained cell service when he did, and to still have enough consciousness and wherewithal to call 911. Though he was located in a tertiary search area, it would have been some time before teams made it to that location on their own," the group said.
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