>>2769822heh i almost made this thread earlier this week.
https://denvergazette.com/outtherecolorado/news/immobilized-hiker-lost-overnight-on-colorado-14er-after-getting-left-behind-by-co-workers/article_6cb7b3c2-63d4-11ef-8407-af9590bb5239.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawE-q8VleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWEHmVJpFpg72FHr49RI5912lUvlAbKFZuVxzadqdyIQAmhB6qwxcoazMA_aem_7PhZoGcuPTbLILMfiV-FoQSince this is basically the rescue team talking to the reporters, sharing what the hiker told them, im taking everything with a grain of salt. Im assuming it was more like:
>at the saddle>some employees move on to the summit>the less-able employees turn around>the guy in question is probably more in the latter category, but insists he can do it >eventually insists that the rest go on without him, nobody argues with him>he eventually summits, to his credit>but he's inept and doesnt remember the general direction he came (pic rel)>gets corrected after heading the completely wrong direction>weather comes in but he continues anyways. This is probably when he "fell" (slipped is likely more accurate) 20 times>ffw to the morning when he was able to get rescued Again this is all his word as repeated by the rescue crew. The hiker is probably culpable for a lot of this, being under-prepared, incompetent, and overconfident. Also claiming to be "abandoned" sounds dubious considering they clearly gave everyone the option to turn around ant one point. Nobody forced him to continue to the summit... and also wouldn't he have ran into the rest of his coworkers when they descended? Also, even with the markers removed, its really hard to imagine getting THAT disoriented when there topography itself is a landmark. like he went east when he should've gone south
That said, I would expect the team of coworkers to go at the pace of the slowest guy or at least check up on him regularly, so they are somewhat responsible for leaving him behind
