Rescue under way on Pikes Peak

A hiker has been stranded all night on Pikes Peak. El Paso County Search and Rescue worked all night to try to get himdown.

Heavy snow increased avalanche danger, making the rescue particularly treacherous, said incident commander Brian Kinsey.

The hiker attempted to cross the trail from Elk Park, about 11 miles up the mountain near Glen Cove on the north face, down to the Pikes Peak Highway.

“He got a couple miles down, but didn’t have snowshoes and the snow was a little deeper there than he anticipated,” Kinsey said.

The hiker, whom Kinsey did not identify this morning, tried to ride out the snowstorm in a small tent, but the wet spring snow collapsed the tent, Kinsey said.

“He became a little concerned at that point.”

The hiker has been in communication with rescuers via cell phone. Kinsey said they have been trying to reach him since 1 a.m.

“We had to take rescuers in with a snow cat,” he said.

Parts of that trail have some of the highest avalanche danger on the mountain this time of year.