A man was rescued Saturday after falling on Wilson Peak and sustaining severe injuries, according to the San Miguel Sheriff’s Office.
The 30-year-old hiker took a “significant” fall on the east face of the peak that caused “serious head injuries and other traumatic injuries,” according to the San Miguel Sheriff Facebook Page.
An emergency message was received by dispatchers just before 11 a.m. Saturday morning indicating an injured hiker on the east face of Wilson Peak needed rescue. Deputies learned another hiker heard rockfall from above, looked up, and saw the man fall. The hiker came to the aid of the injured man and was able to call dispatch.
About two dozen people including San Miguel Sheriff deputies, San Miguel County Search and Rescue volunteers and Telluride Fire Protection District personnel responded to the rescue. Several hikers from different groups stopped to assist throughout the mission.
A Mountain Blade Runner helicopter airlifted rescue teams into the field, and a Telluride Fire Protection District paramedic and rescuers made contact with the patient around 1:40 p.m.
A low-angle technical rope rescue was required over a scree field, and the patient was airlifted back to the Telluride airport, then transfered to Careflight medics, who then flew the patient to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.
The injured man is reportedly an experienced hiker and was hiking alone.
Multiple layers of simultaneous operations were necessary for what turned out to be a five-hour mission, said San Miguel Sheriff Bill Masters.
He said a ground team was inserted into the area for contingency purposes, and additional teams were on standby at the staging area at the Telluride airport.
Masters thanked the many agencies and “the hikers on scene who helped with this extensive mission.”
jmimiaga@the-journal.com