Arizona Hiker Gets Hypothermia On Quest for Free Pizza
Rescued after trying to hike 9,301-foot peak in shorts and tank top during snowstorm.
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People will go to extraordinary lengths for the things they love, and last week an Arizona man set out to climb 9,301-foot Mount Elden to prove his devotion to the one thing that unites as all: pizza.
The hiker, who has not been named, hit the trail early last Tuesday in response to a promotion by Pizzicletta, a Flagstaff pizzeria that offered a coupon for a free pie to anyone who hiked or biked to the top of Eden during the 21-day Giro d’Italia cycling race.
Things quickly went south for the shorts- and tank-top-clad hiker, who developed hypothermia when temperatures dropped.
“[He] was either unaware of the weather forecast or disregarded the forecast and set off ill prepared wearing shorts and light clothing,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
The hiker was spotted by a Forest Service ranger in a guard tower, who came to his aid and found him “shivering heavily and probably at mild stages of hypothermia.” The ranger helped him to shelter.
The man went on to make a full recovery, though there’s no word whether he ever got his pie.
“We never want anyone to risk their life for pizza. It’s certainly not worth it,” Pizzicletta owner Caleb Schiff told local news channel KPNX.