Lakewood hiker safe after high-altitude rescue

Rescue crew loads Lakewood resident into helicopter Sunday. (Photo courtesy National Park Service, Rocky Mountain National Park)

A hiker from Lakewood was recovering at St. Anthony Central Hospital Monday, a day after he was air-lifted from a mountain peak at Rocky Mountain National Park. 

The man, Ranganathan Chitoor Parameswaran, spent Saturday night about 200 feet below the summit of Mount Ida under the care of rescue teams who reached him too late to get the victim off the mountain before dark closed in.

Parameswaran, 32, is in fair condition, a St. Anthony spokeswoman said Monday afternoon.

Parameswaran was injured Saturday afternoon when he fell near the 12,880 foot summit of Mount Ida while hiking with a group of 11 from the Denver area. The group was descending the steep trail into the Gorge Lakes area about 1:30 p.m.when he lost his footing, tumbling and sliding about 20 feet. Parameswaran broke his leg and suffered several cuts and bruises, according to Kyle Patterson, Rocky Mountain National Park spokeswoman.

A member of the hiking group called 911 for help and the Grand County Sheriff’s Office passed the report of the incident to park staff.

The first two rangers reached the site about 5:25 p.m. and found the victim a few hundred  feet below the Mount Ida ridgeline in loose rock and scree. A litter team of seven park rangers headed for the area, but were forced to turn back at nightfall.

Five rangers and one of Parameswaran’s hiking companions stayed with him through the night. The litter team reached the site by 9:20 Sunday morning and moved him 200 feet up the mountain where a Flight for Life helicopter picked him up for the trip to the Denver hospital.

Parameswaran, a citizen of India, is expected to return to his native country when he leaves the hospital, perhaps as early as Tuesday.