On Sunday afternoon, the Pitkin County Coroner’s Office released the name of the hunter who died Friday night near Williams Lake. The man was identified as Stephen James McGinnis of Princeton, Minnesota. He was 56.
The cause and manner of McGinnis’ death is pending autopsy results, a release from the coroner’s office stated.
At 6:19 p.m. Friday, the Pitkin County Regional Emergency Dispatch Center received a call about a hunter having a medical emergency near Williams Lake about 8 miles west of Aspen, according to the coroner’s office release.
The hunter, McGinnis, was hiking near the lake when he “collapsed while traversing across a ridge line near 11,000 feet in elevation,” as previously reported.
Volunteer crews from Mountain Rescue Aspen were mobilized and a helicopter was deployed from Care Flight in Rifle Friday. However, because of the remote area, the helicopter could not find a suitable landing zone, according to a Saturday news release.
County dispatchers gave McGinnis’ party members CPR instructions during the call, but efforts were stopped after nearly an hour, following direction from emergency officials.
A helicopter transported McGinnis from the Williams Lake area Saturday morning. MRA accompanied the remaining party members from the area and were safely out of the field around 12:20 p.m.
Williams Lake is roughly midway between Mount Sopris and Capitol Peak in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area. The lake is about 2 miles from the Hell Roaring trailhead on Capitol Creek Road.