A 27-year-old snowboarder was seriously injured after tumbling about 100 feet down the Skyscraper Glacier, north of Rollins Pass, Colorado, on Monday, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials said the man was initiating a descent when he slipped, sliding into a bergschrund – a crevasse that forms where glacier ice pulls away from rock.
Emergency crews launched a complex rescue effort involving multiple agencies. Northern Colorado MedEvac airlifted Rocky Mountain Rescue Group volunteers to a ridge above the glacier, while additional teams from Boulder and Grand counties reached the site on ATVs, UTVs and on foot.
(Photo credit: Boulder County Sheriff’s Office)
(Photo credit: Boulder County Sheriff’s Office)
Rescuers traversed a 300-foot stretch of snow to reach the man around 5:45 p.m. MDT, securing him and treating his injuries before using a rope system to haul him uphill. The man was raised another 50 feet over an eroding ridge before being flown out by helicopter at about 8:10 p.m. and taken to a local hospital.
