A Denver man injured his ankle Sunday in a snowfield below Cathedral Peak’s summit and was helicoptered out of the backcountry to Aspen Valley Hospital, according to a statement.
The 47-year-old man was climbing with a woman and lost his footing about 700 feet south of the peak’s summit and tumbled about 150 feet in a snowfield, according to the statement and Pitkin County Deputy Bruce Benjamin.
Emergency dispatchers received a signal from a “Spot Device” emergency beacon at 7:45 a.m., and volunteers from Mountain Rescue Aspen headed into the field not long after, according to the statement.
A medical helicopter based in Frisco flew over the location of the signal, located the two people at 13,200 feet on the east face of Cathedral Peak and confirmed that one person was injured. Cathedral Peak (13,950 feet) is about 11 miles southwest of Aspen in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness area.
MRA personnel reached the climbers at 11:38 a.m., and the medical helicopter was able to transport him to the hospital not long after. The man also sustained cuts and bruises during the fall, the statement read.