On the evening of Saturday, June 13, the San Miguel County Search and Rescue team responded to a situation involving two people stuck on one of the most popular attractions of the Telluride area at night.

According to a report from the local sheriff’s office, the report came in at about 9:55 p.m., related to two hikers who had become ‘cliffed out’ during the descent from the technical Via Ferrata route located southeast of Telluride. The hikers had encountered cliffs and steep rock and were unable to move forward or backward from their position.

The hikers were described by the sheriff’s office as two out-of-state women in their early 20s – one from Idaho and one from Utah – who were traveling together and had started their attempt to travel the via ferrata route around 6:30 p.m. Per the sheriff’s office report, the women had never attempted a via ferrata route before and were ill-equipped for the task, with sparse clothing and no food or water.

A first attempt to guide the hikers to safety remotely was unsuccessful, which prompted a rescue team to deploy to the scene. The rescuers were able to make contact with the hikers and set up a short rappel that allowed descent back to the trail. At that point, the two women were guided down the mountainside and back to their vehicle.

The rescue mission took place over the span of more than four hours, involving six rescue personnel and wrapping up during the early morning hours of June 14.

While the Telluride Via Ferrata route is only about 3.5 miles round trip, it’s extremely technical, requiring the use of safety equipment designed for via ferrata travel which allows hikers to move along a system of cables and rungs alongside a 500-foot cliff drop while staying connected to the wall during the more dangerous sections. It’s strongly recommended that first-timers and those who are inexperienced with via ferrata travel hire a local guide. It can be completed without a guide, but in that scenario, the route should be reserved for experts who have the right safety gear.

In recent years, the Telluride Via Ferrata has exploded in popularity. It’s one of those spots that’s highly ‘Instagrammable’ as hikers can snap shots above a massive cliff. With that said, it tends to attract a lot of hopeful climbers that don’t really know what they’re doing and while many stretches of the route have points to clip in with the right gear, there are also dangerous stretches left unprotected.

“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,” said San Miguel County Undersheriff Nick Xavier. “People need to exercise better judgment and be appropriately experienced and prepared before attempting terrain this technical.”

Learn more about the via ferrata route and find information on guides here.

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