Colorado hiker rescued after attempting 13,000-foot ridge north of Mount Princeton

The Chaffee County Search and Rescue North reported Saturday that a stranded hiker had to be rescued during a severe snowstorm near Mount Princeton.

According to CCSAR-N, the team received a report of a hiker in distress who "bushwacked to summit" a 13,000-foot ridge north of Princeton earlier in the day. 

That's when a severe snowstorm powered through the area and caught the hiker unprepared - out of water, with no food and only wearing a cotton hoodie. 

CCSAR-N says with darkness approaching and hypothermia setting, the hiker decided to "bail down an avalanche chute to try to get to a road."

The hiker reportedly had a phone, however, "SAR was unable to obtain GPS information for the subject from the device and all they could tell SAR was about their location and that they were in an avalanche chute east of Cottonwood Lake," according to CCSAR-N. 

CCSAR-N guided the hiker, telling the person to keep moving in a downward direction. Afterward, approximately 25 SAR members from CCSAR-N and CCSAR-S were deployed to search for the hiker as the storm continued. 

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The team also says several avalanche chutes were "searched from the bottom up, with one searched from the top down due to steepness, deadfall land, and slippery conditions."

At approximately 12:42 a.m., the team "descended into the gully from the ridge in approximately six to eight inches of new snow and located footprints" that belonged to the hiker.

Around 2 a.m., after the team continued to follow the hiker's footprints, they came upon what they thought was an "unusual-looking rock."

Through closer inspection, rescuers determined that it "was not a rock but the hiker sitting upright in fetal position covered in snow," according to the rescue team. 

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The rescue team assessed the hiker as reportedly still alive but "very hypothermic."

It took over three hours to warm the hiker. The extraction process began around 5:00 a.m., according to the rescue team.

The team says "ropes were used to lower the subject one section at a time."

At approximately 6:15 a.m., the hiker told the teams "they felt like they could assist with the rescue by walking."

Around 7 a.m., the hiker was then walked out with assistance from the team and brought to a paramedic personnel for evaluation. 

With weather now being a huge factor in hikes in the mountains, the rescue team sends reminder of taking a "knowing before going" approach and to be prepared by having the 10 essentials along with keeping the proper communication devices handy on your hike.