A hiker who was rescued from a Colorado mountain after getting lost during an office retreat was raising money for World Central Kitchen, a food relief charity.
The man – identified by the New York Times as Steve Stephanides of Florida – got lost and found himself without phone signal after being left by colleagues who went ahead without him, the Chaffee County Search and Rescue team said.
He endured stormy weather and multiple falls before being found in a “large search effort” the next morning.
The company where Mr Stephanides works, London-based global insurance firm Beazley, told the BBC the charity hike had been running for over a decade with many participants having done the hike before.
“We are very grateful to the Chaffee County Search and Rescue South who came to the aid of one of our employees after he encountered difficulties during a charity hike,” the company’s CEO Adrian Cox said in a statement. “Chaffee County SAR’s swift response and brave actions, during adverse weather conditions, ensured that our colleague was rescued and returned safely.”
Mr Stephanides was stabilised and taken to hospital, but there has been no further update on his condition.
Officials suggested the incident “might cause some awkward encounters at the office in the coming days and weeks”.
The drama unfolded on 23 August when a group of 15 co-workers from the company ventured along a trail up Mt Shavano, which is 14,000ft (4,300m) high.
Evan Brady, the public information officer for Chaffee County Search and Rescue South, told the New York Times Mr Stephanides stopped for a break while his co-workers continued on the route.
Officials said the hiker was left to reach the summit on his own.
He then became disoriented on the descent, “finding belongings left in the boulder field to mark the descent by the previous group having been picked up as they hiked down”.
Concerned, he sent a pin drop to colleagues, who are said to have told him that he was on the wrong route, and suggested that he climb back up to the right trail.
A strong storm then passed through the area, bringing “high winds and freezing rain” and leaving him without a signal.
Chaffee County Search and Rescue dispatched two teams and a drone pilot who were thwarted by the bad weather.
Multiple agencies assisted the next morning in what officials called a “large search effort”.
Mr Stephanides eventually recovered enough phone signal to make an emergency call.
Search and rescue workers found him in a gully.
“He’s lucky to be alive,” Mr Brady said.
Mr Brady also told the New York Times that the suggestion the hiker had been abandoned by colleagues was overblown.
