DURANGO, Colo. — Authorities say a 19-year-old rock climber was critically injured after falling 65 feet in southwestern Colorado’s San Juan National Forest.
Upper Pine Fire Protection District Chief Bruce Evans tells the Durango Herald that he could not identify the man who fell Saturday at Transfer Park north of Lemon Reservoir.
Evans says the climber was alone. He was in out of consciousness during the rescue and flown to a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Evans says it’s the third rescue of a climber in the area over the last two years. He says climbers should always have a partner and a backcountry beacon to help emergency responders find them.