Climbers on Colorado cliff require midnight rescue

Search and rescue personnel were needed Saturday night to help two young women off a cliff-side climbing route above Telluride. 

The two women - one from Utah, the other from Idaho, both in their early 20s - called for assistance just before 10 p.m., according to the San Miguel Sheriff's Office. The pair began a traverse of the Via Ferrata feature at 6:30 that evening and became "cliffed out," or unable to climb down the sheer rock face below them. 

It was their first time on route, according to the sheriff's office.

"The two were ill-equipped," the sheriff's office stated in a social media post, "carrying only sparse clothing and no food or water."

A half dozen members of San Miguel County Search and Rescue responded. Initial attempts to guide the climbers through the remainder of route by voice failed. Team members then climbed to the women, set up a short rappel, and lowered them back to the trail. The operation lasted four hours.

"These two hikers could have spent the night stranded on the cliffs, cold, frightened and at risk of injury or worse had it not been for our dedicated and highly skilled SAR team," San Miguel County Undersheriff Nick Xavier stated. "People need to exercise better judgment and be appropriately experienced and prepared before attempting terrain this technical."  

The Via Ferrata is a system of iron rungs and steel cables placed above narrow ledges hundreds of feet above the valley floor east of the town. Climbers wear helmets and harnesses and secure themselves to the cable as they move along the cliff face, at times momentarily disconnecting from the cable along the way.

An Arizona woman died in 2021 from injuries suffered in a fall from the route. Rescuers presumed she fell while unclipped from the cable.

Inexperienced climbers should hire guides for the excursion, the sheriff's office stated.