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Man separated from colleagues during work retreat is rescued a day later
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Man separated from colleagues during work retreat is rescued a day later

A man who was hiking with more than a dozen colleagues in Colorado for a work retreat was rescued a day after he became separated from the group, officials said.

The group of 15 hikers left the Blanks Cabin Trailhead at sunrise on Friday. Some of the group completed summit attempts on Mount Shavano, while others climbed to the saddle and returned, Chaffee County Search and Rescue reported on Facebook.

One person became separated from the group after reaching the summit. The search and rescue group said the man turned to descend and became disoriented after others in the group picked up the trail makers who were pointing out their route.

The man became concerned and sent his location to his colleagues.

The colleagues told him his route was wrong and that he would have to climb back up the slope to find the trail. As he climbed back up, he sent his location again and texted that he was near the trail, but a storm caused him to become disoriented again, the group said. The man also lost cell phone reception.

The search and rescue group said they were notified the man was missing around 9 p.m. Friday. Search teams, a drone pilot and a helicopter searched for him without success.

“Overnight, teams encountered high winds and freezing rain, making it unsafe to reach the summit and posing significant challenges for the drone operator,” officials said.

The man was rescued Saturday after his cell phone came back online and he called 911. The man told authorities he fell about 20 times on the steep slopes and was unable to get up after the last fall.

“But fortunately he had enough cell phone reception to make calls,” the search and rescue group said, joking that the incident “could lead to some awkward situations in the office in the coming days and weeks.”

“This hiker was extremely fortunate to have regained cell service at this point and still had enough awareness and resources to call 911. Although he was in a tertiary search area, it would be some time before the teams could reach that location on their own,” the group said.