Rockfall at Little Bear Peak, CO, Leaves Hiker With Severe Injuries

A dramatic helicopter rescue unfolded Sunday morning, July 27, on one of Colorado’s most perilous peaks, after a climber was critically injured in a sudden rockfall just beneath the infamous Hourglass Couloir of Little Bear Peak. The climber was struck during the ascent by a large rock and fell approximately 30 feet. The climber, who was not wearing a helmet, sustained severe injuries and was found unresponsive by witnesses who immediately activated the SOS feature on a Garmin satellite device.

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Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue (AVSAR) launched a multi-agency response, coordinating with the Colorado Army National Guard, REACH Air Medical Services, and other partners to reach the remote location. Ten AVSAR members traveled up the rugged Lake Como Road with technical gear, while three others were inserted into Tobin Basin via helicopter. The climber received stabilizing care on-site thanks to the efforts of nearby climbers, including a nurse, until rescuers could arrive.

Gianna Spitaliere, a hiker who witnessed and helped coordinate the rescue effort, shared her firsthand account on the online mountaineering Facebook group “Colorado 14ers.” She and her husband, Jake, had reached the base of the Hourglass — a notoriously narrow, steep chute on the 14,037-foot peak — just after 5:30 a.m., accompanied by a third climber they had met only moments earlier. “We stopped for a snack,” she wrote. “In those few seconds, we hear what I can only describe as the loudest thunder imaginable.” From high above, a massive boulder — “microwave to dishwasher-sized” — and multiple other rocks thundered down the couloir, catching the third climber in their path. “He attempted to run to the right… Jake saw him tumble head over heels about 20 feet down the slope. He wasn’t wearing a helmet.”

Jake, an emergency room nurse, immediately called 911 and activated a Garmin InReach satellite device to pinpoint their location. The injured climber was unconscious and in critical condition. For over 90 minutes, Gianna and Jake remained alone with him, stabilizing him on the unstable, exposed terrain beneath the Hourglass. By 7 a.m., six additional climbers arrived, bringing bivy sacks and extra hands. Still, they could not move the man, nor safely leave the rockfall zone. The group took turns planning escape routes in case more debris fell. “We were perched below the hourglass and were still directly in the rockfall line,” Gianna recalled.

When emergency crews reached the site of the rockfall, the Colorado National Guard completed a technical hoist operation, airlifting the injured climber to a helipad where he was transferred to a medical helicopter and flown to a Front Range hospital. The mission was made possible through seamless coordination between agencies and the dedication of volunteers who risked their lives in challenging conditions. “The hoist was terrifying to witness,” Gianna recounted. “I can’t imagine how SAR teams do this regularly. They’re truly superheroes.”

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The experience left Gianna shaken—and resolute. “Notifying the man’s wife of what happened […] was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. It’s a stark reminder of what we risk when we enter these mountains. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time despite thinking we had done everything right by arriving early,” she wrote. Her plea to the hiking community was simple: “I urge you to wear a helmet on technical climbs.”

The condition of the injured climber has not been publicly released.

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