A 24-year-old man was rescued after going missing on a solo climbing adventure in recent days.

According to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, a call was received regarding an overdue climber at 1:49 a.m. during the early morning hours of December 11. The call was regarding a climber who had embarked on an adventure in Eldorado Canyon State Park the previous day, planning to climb the multi-pitch ‘Naked Edge’ route – a well-known route in the area that’s rated at 5.11b, quite technical.

During his climb up the route, the man depleted both his headlamp and cell phone batteries, and after losing contact with him, his family called 911 for help.

A drone was used to local the climber, with Rocky Mountain Rescue Group sending in personnel to assist the climber during his return down from technical terrain. While it wasn’t explicitly stated in the report on the matter, it sounds like the climber made it up the route, but encountered difficulties during the rugged return back to the trailhead. After about six hours, the mission was a success with no injuries reported and the climber safely out of the situation.

It’s important to note that while this climber was solo on the route, he wasn’t free soloing without protection – he was rope soloing, which is a technique that allows a climber to scale a route alone while still using protection.

The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office used the incident to remind the public about several safety aspects related to outdoor recreation, including to always let people know where you’re headed and when you’ll be back, to establish check-in procedures with someone who can call for help, and to always bring appropriate equipment.

In terms of lighting and dying batteries, an important phrase to remember is as follows: one headlamp is none, two headlamps are one, and three headlamps means you’re good to go (for most adventures). This tactic can help to prevent issues related to batteries dying, as you’ve got two back-up devices. It’s also important to remember to always keep all headlamps charged – and while rechargeable headlamps are nice, it can be good to have one option that uses batteries that can be replaced, making sure to bring replacement batteries, too.

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