Additional details have been released related to a New Year’s Eve mountain climbing accident that occurred in Colorado resulting in the death of 52-year-old Shafiq Noorani of Aurora.

According to a January 7 update from the Alpine Rescue Team, Noorani fell more than 500 feet from the northeast face of The Citadel on December 31, with The Citadel described as a rugged 13,294-foot mountain located a couple miles east-northeast of I-70’s Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel.

Noorani was with a 29-year-old female during the fall, with the two aiming to reach the summit of the peak.

“A couple of experienced climbers, tiring from post holing in snow moved to ever-steepening rock to seek a clear route to the summit,” reads a statement from Alpine Rescue Team about the incident. “Not far from the top, one of the scramblers suffered a long and very serious fall. Unable to see the climber and hearing no responses to yells, the partner called 911 and hunkered down on a small 4’x4’ ledge.”

The initial call for help came in at about 2:05 p.m. prompting emergency teams to spring into action to respond to the incident. Soon, a Flight for Life helicopter picked up a member of Alpine Rescue Team and flew directly to the mountain. The plan with this initial flight was primarily reconnaissance, with crews hoping to locate both the fallen climber and his partner with hopes that dropping the rescuer down to the fallen climber could be possible, too.

What were described as ‘swirling winds’ unfortunately prevented close inspection and a landing thus personnel launched on the ground to hike into the area. An image published by Alpine Rescue Team captures the flight path of the Flight for Life helicopter, with the circular flight patterns around the valley and alpine terrain showing just how difficult it was to reach the scene.

With daylight waning, reaching both climbers in their separate locations would require major effort, thus assistance from Summit County Rescue Group and Grand County Search and Rescue was requested, along with a request for assistance from Colorado Army National Guard Aviation and the Colorado Hoist Rescue Team. Clear Creek Fire Authority also responded to assist with a UTV that was used to bring rescue equipment into the field.

By the time the darkness of the night overtook the landscape, teams hiking in were still about half a mile away from rescue subjects. Thankfully, a Blackhawk helicopter was set to be involved, which picked up three Alpine Rescue Team members at the Herman Gulch Command Post before heading to the scene.

Pilots of the helicopter along with crew chiefs were equipped with night vision goggles, with two of the rescue technicians successfully lowered to the fallen climber while the third stayed on board to conduct a pick-up hoist of the female climber who was still stranded on the peak.

The stranded climber was brought out of the field first, successfully loaded into the helicopter and flown to the command post. Meanwhile, it was determined that fallen climber Noorani was deceased, with his body packaged up and transferred to the Blackhawk on a return trip to the scene.

All crews ultimately made it out of the field by about 9 p.m., per prior reporting from CBS.

“We send our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the climber that died, and to his climbing partner we send virtual hugs that we hope will help her recover from this calamity,” read a statement from Alpine Rescue Team following the incident.

Those interested in helping to support Colorado’s volunteer-powered search and rescue effort can do so via donation or the purchase of a CORSAR card.

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