Team building goes wrong Colleagues leave man on mountain peak - rescue comes late

A man is rescued in Colorado after getting lost and injured on a hike. Colleagues had previously left him on a mountain.

This is clearly not how team building works - at least not according to the textbook: an office worker had to be rescued after a hike with his colleagues in the US state of Colorado. His colleagues left him behind - on a mountain around 4,200 meters high.

The incident took place on Mount Shavano in the San Isabel National Forest. "One member of the group had to tackle the last section of the climb alone," rescue workers from Chaffee County Search and Rescue told ABC News.

After reaching the summit at around 11.30 a.m., the man became disoriented on the descent. His colleagues had previously collected markers to show the way back.

Bad weather complicates search

After not hearing from him for eight hours, the group reported the man missing. According to ABC News, bad weather made the search operation more difficult. Rain and strong winds also prevented the use of a search drone. Even a helicopter was unable to locate the man.

It was not until the next morning that the man had enough reception to call the emergency services on his cell phone and give his location. The rescue workers finally found him in a ravine and took him to hospital.

"He said he had been very disoriented on the descent and had fallen at least 20 times on the steep slopes," emergency services told ABC News. After the last fall, he was unable to get up.

The man's condition is stable. It is not known whether the same can be said of the climate at his employer.