14 coworkers allegedly left their colleague stranded on a 14,230-foot (approximately 4,227-meter) mountain. The employees had gone on a team-building expedition on an office hiking retreat to Mount Shavano in Colorado’s San Isabel National Forest, USA. People on social media have since encouraged the survivor to sue his job.
"In what might cause some awkward encounters at the office in the coming days and weeks, one member of their party was left to complete his final summit push alone," Chaffee County, Colorado, Search and Rescue said in a statement.
Highlights
- A lone hiker was left stranded by coworkers on a 14,230-foot mountain during an office retreat.
- The worker became disoriented and lost cellphone signal during a storm after being instructed to climb back up.
- Rescue teams faced freezing rain and high winds, making it difficult to find the man, who was stranded overnight.
- The man fell multiple times during his descent and was finally rescued near a drainage creek on Saturday.
The team-building expedition gone wrong unfolded Friday (August 23), with rescuers explaining in an official statement: "Initial reports to our communications center indicated a group of 15 hikers on an office retreat had left the Blanks Cabin Trailhead at sunrise that morning, with a group completing summit attempts and a separate group ascending to the saddle [area of the mountain] and returning from there."
While 14 employees made it down the mountain safely, rescue officials said one was left to complete the summit push alone, ABC News reported on Wednesday (August 28).
14 coworkers allegedly left their colleague stranded on a 14,230-foot (approximately 4,227-meter) mountain
Image credits: Teller County Search and Rescue
The single worker made it to the summit at 11:30 a.m. local time, but when he tried to descend, "he became disoriented," according to rescue officials.
Making matters worse, his colleagues descending the mountain ahead of him inexplicably collected belongings left in a boulder field to mark the path down, officials reportedly said.
"In his initial attempts to descend, he found himself in the steep boulder and scree field on the northeast slopes toward Shavano Lake," according to officials.
Image credits: Chaffee County Search and Rescue - South
The man, whose name and company were reportedly not released, used his cellphone to pin-drop his location to his co-workers.
However, the lone employee’s colleagues went on to inform him that he was on the wrong route and instructed him to hike back up to the summit to get to the correct trail down, officials said.
Just before 4 p.m. local time on Friday, the sole worker sent another location pin-drop to his coworkers, informing them that he was near the correct trail.
The employees had gone on a team-building expedition on an office hiking retreat to Mount Shavano in Colorado’s San Isabel National Forest, USA
Image credits: Teller County Search and Rescue
"Shortly after that message, a strong storm passed through the area with freezing rain and high winds, and he again became disoriented, losing his cell phone signal as well," rescue officials reportedly said.
When his colleagues didn't hear from him, they reported him missing to Chaffee County Search and Rescue at 9 p.m., some eight-and-a-half hours after he started his descent, officials said.
A search was immediately launched, but rescue teams on the ground encountered freezing rain and high winds that hampered their hike to the Mount Shavano summit, officials said, according to ABC News.
Video credits: Chaffee County Search and Rescue - South
The foul weather also made it difficult to operate a search-and-rescue drone in the area, authorities reportedly said.
Despite an aerial search, a rescue helicopter couldn't locate the lost man, who was reportedly dressed in black, leaving him stranded overnight.
Rescue efforts continued into Saturday morning, with additional teams called in for assistance. The disoriented hiker regained enough cellphone service Saturday morning to call 911 and report his location, ABC News reported.
People on social media have since encouraged the survivor to sue his job
Image credits: Teller County Search and Rescue
Rescuers were finally able to find the poor man in a gully near a drainage creek before extracting him and taking him to a hospital, where he was in a stable condition, officials reportedly said.
"He reported being very disoriented on his descent and falling at least 20 times on the steep slopes," rescue officials said in the statement, adding that the hiker was unable to get up after his last fall.
"This hiker was phenomenally lucky to have regained cell service when he did, and to still have enough consciousness and wherewithal to call 911," rescue officials reportedly said.
Image credits: Chaffee County Search and Rescue - South
The news alarmed a handful of people, as a person commented on Threads: “He's about to not have to work anymore.
“He's about to quit his job, sue their a***s, take their jobs, and live the rest of his life living the best life and that's on karma bchs.”
“Let’s see what HR does,” a Threads user wrote. “Hope he has a full recovery. Considering that his colleagues purposely removed the descent route markers causing this nightmare situation, I wonder if they will be charged with something.”
The team-building expedition gone wrong unfolded on Friday (August 23)
Image credits: Chaffee County Search and Rescue - South
“I’d cold shoulder them forever,” a netizen added. “They’re not friends. They don’t care.”
Someone penned: “A reminder that work is not your family…no matter what your HR trainings suggest.”
Nevertheless, others reacted to the incident with humor, as a commenter quipped: “He was the guy who reheated fish in the break room microwave.”
Image credits: El Paso County Search and Rescue
A separate individual chimed in: “This would make a decent episode of The Office where Michael leaves Toby stranded.”
Michael Scott is the bumbling, often inappropriate, but well-meaning regional manager of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch in the TV show The Office.
Played by Steve Carell, Michael hates Toby Flenderson, played by Paul Lieberstein, the mild-mannered and soft-spoken Human Resources (HR) representative for the Scranton branch.
"Definitely not a 'team building' exercise," a reader commented
