According to Summit Daily, a rescue recently took place on the west ridge of 14,272-foot Quandary Peak near Breckenridge. The incident goes to show that while Quandary Peak is often billed as a ‘beginner’ fourteener, all routes to the summit don’t come with the same level of route-finding ease.

The rescue took place on June 19, conducted by Summit County Rescue Group and involving two hikers. The hikers found themselves in a situation where they were unable to move safely up or down the mountain, which is commonly referred to as ‘getting cliffed out.’ Thankfully, the rescue had a positive outcome, starting at about 1 p.m. and with all personnel and the two hikers out of the field by 10 p.m.

While the standard ‘east ridge’ route to the summit of Quandary is considered ‘class one,’ the ‘west ridge’ route is ‘class three’ involving quite a bit of scrambling, exposure, and more technical route-finding. It’s also much less trafficked, as might be expected.

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This case is a good reminder of how it’s so important to be highly familiar with a route prior to leaving the trailhead, as this can help to not only stay within one’s skills, but can also help with staying on-route and out of dangerous situations like this.

Thanks goes out to search and rescue teams that were involved. Find more in-depth reporting from Summit Daily, as well as some discussion about how this is representative of a recent trend here.

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