Colorado’s Skyscraper Glacier, a backcountry snowboarder’s day took a near-fatal turn when he lost his footing and slid the length of a football field into one of the most dangerous features in mountaineering — a bergschrund.
Skyscraper Glacier is renowned as a summer ski option, but it is difficult. What could go wrong?
The 27-year-old rider came to rest in the gaping void where glacial ice peels away from the mountain wall, a place that has swallowed more than a few alpine travellers over the years. Rescue crews described the setting as both technically hazardous and medically urgent.
The call for help went out just after 2:30 p.m. on 8 September. Teams from multiple counties and volunteer organisations scrambled into action, bringing ropes, hauling systems, ATVs, and eventually a helicopter into play. It took more than three hours of painstaking climbing before the first responders reached the snowboarder.
“He was lodged in a position that left no margin for error,” officials later said. The team built an intricate rope system to lift him out, while medics treated him on the spot. From there, rescuers inched him another 15 metres over a crumbling ridgeline before handing him off to a MedEvac helicopter just after 8 p.m.
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For the volunteers, the job wasn’t finished. They still faced a long night descent through steep snowfields and unstable terrain, finally exiting the mountain around 1:00 a.m.
Seven agencies in total worked side by side on the mission: Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, Colorado Search and Rescue Association, Grand County Search and Rescue, Grand County Sheriff’s Office, Grand County EMS, and Northern Colorado MedEvac.
The snowboarder remains in hospital with serious injuries but is expected to survive — thanks in large part to the speed, skill, and sheer determination of Colorado’s mountain rescue community.
