Colorado: (1) Needle Mountains

Publication Year: 1952.

Colorado: (1) Needle Mountains. On 2 September 1951 Dale Johnson, a 20-year-old Colorado University student from Colorado Springs, fell 55 feet while climbing with one companion, Harry Nance of Denver. Neither the cause of the accident nor the particular peak on which it occurred has been reported. Johnson spent the night alone at the point where he had fallen while Nance went for help. A rescue team from Silverton arrived early the following morning, and lowered him to the base of the cliff in a basket stretcher. A handcar on a narrow gauge railway was used to transport Johnson to a Silverton hospital where it was determined that he was badly bruised but not seriously injured.

Source of information: newspaper account.

Analysis. Sufficient details for an analysis of this accident are lacking. Consideration of the relative inaccessibility of the Needle Mountains makes it apparent that Nance and the rescue team worked with remarkable speed and efficiency.