Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
For the second time in as many weeks, rescue teams retrieved two stranded hikers from high on a Colorado fourteener by helicopter, this time after a pair of teenage hikers became trapped on what’s widely considered the most dangerous high peak in Colorado.
On June 24 at about 8:20 p.m., two 19-year-old hikers from North Carolina called for help from Capitol Peak after attempting to take a shortcut down the north face of the mountain and becoming stuck at about 13,000 feet.
Hiking Capitol Peak typically involves a 17-mile round-trip excursion, about 5,300-feet of elevation gain, boulder fields, and very strenuous terrain. The peak is among Colorado’s most challenging fourteeners due to its exposure, length, and class four terrain, which generally requires simple climbing with the possibility of a serious fall.
The hiking duo spent the night on the mountain after rescuers determined they were uninjured and not in immediate danger. The next morning, the Colorado National Guard dispatched a Blackhawk helicopter to hoist the hikers off of the mountain. A short thunder-and-snow storm complicated their efforts, but eventually the crew spotted the hikers and evacuated them from the peak. Medical professionals evaluated the duo at Sardy field before their release.
In the wake of the incident, a statement from Pitkin County Sheriff Michael Buglione noted that “Capitol Peak is not a “walk up” peak, it is a technical climb.”
“There is not an alternate route down the north face of Capitol Peak,” Buglione said. “If there was a safe shortcut, it would be the standard route.”
While Capitol Peak receives significantly less foot traffic than other fourteeners in the state, some of Colorado’s most devastating incidents have taken place on this mountain. In 2022, Sarah Beechler fell to her death just below the summit of the peak while attempting to finish her last Colorado fourteener.
In 2021, Kelly McDermott, a 32-year-old from Wisconsin, fell somewhere on or near Capitol Peak’s knife edge. Three SAR personnel from Mountain Rescue Aspen suffered injuries during an attempted recovery after rockfall struck them; rescuers finally left his body on the peak with the consent of his family due to its precarious position. And in 2017, five hikers died within six weeks on the peak, four of them while off-route.
Those who attempt the climb should carry proper equipment including food, water, a helmet, communication device, and bright, warm clothing, Pitkin County officials said.
The incident follows another high-profile rescue on Colorado’s Torreys Peak earlier this month in which the National Guard hoisted two hikers off the summit after lightning struck them.
From 2025