An office worker was rescued after being abandoned by colleagues in a team building growth at Mount Shavano in Colorado.
“In what could make for some awkward office meetings in the days and weeks ahead, one member of their party was left to complete his final summit alone,” he wrote. Chaffee County Search and Rescue, South on Facebook.
First responders said that when the climber hit the summit and turned to head back down the mountain, his colleagues had retrieved all the items they had left behind as markers for the descent.
He then “became disoriented,” the rescue group wrote. “Concerned for himself, he sent a needle to colleagues who were already descending. These colleagues informed him that his path was wrong and to climb back up the slope to regain the path,” they added.
His colleagues contacted first responders that evening.
After texting his colleagues, there was “a severe storm” of rain and freezing wind, which led to the climber's disorientation and a difficult time for search and rescue teams. The climber also lost cellphone signal, according to authorities.
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Field teams, drones and helicopters were used in the search, but it was fruitless, and the unidentified man (the hiking group's company was also not named) spent the night on the mountain.
The next morning, the hiker was able to call 911 after regaining service.
“This hiker was phenomenally fortunate to have regained cell service when he did, and to still have enough awareness and resources to call 911,” they wrote.
He was taken to hospital in stable condition.