BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — A skier suffered serious injuries after falling while skiing in the Indian Peaks of Boulder County on Sunday.
The 47-year-old man was skiing down Skywalker Couloir on South Arapaho Peak a little after 10:30 a.m. when he fell, sliding and tumbling approximately 1,000-2,000 feet down the couloir's snowfield before he came to stop at a rock ledge, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) said.
A couloir is a steep mountainside gorge.
Two off-duty firefighters were in the area and saw the man's fall and called 911, the sheriff's office said. The firefighters then went to the injured man and provided first aid until rescuers could make their way up the mountain.
Medical personnel and rescuers from Rocky Mountain Rescue Group were helicoptered near the scene and then climbed up to the injured man to provide care. More rescuers hiked in from the Fourth of July Trailhead bringing additional equipment, the sheriff's office said. Bystanders also helped carry equipment to the scene.
The skier was placed in a full-body vacuum splint and was flown from the scene by a helicopter from the Colorado Hoist Rescue Team to Nederland Middle-Senior High School where an ambulance was waiting to take him to a hospital, the sheriff's office said.
The man suffered serious injuries, but was stable throughout the process, the sheriff's office said.
Skywalker Couloir is rated a Class 4 climb by 14ers.com. South Arapaho Peak's summit is at 13,408 feet. People wanting to ski the couloir's snowfield begin their ascent at just over 10,100 feet, gaining more than more 3,200 feet on the steep slopes.
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