U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – A group of Air Force Academy Cadets is being credited with saving the lives of two lost hikers on Torreys Peak.
On October 28, the group of eight cadets and three officers were on their descent from mountain’s 14,274-high peak, when they spotted the lost men, gave them extra clothing and led them back to the trailhead near Loveland Pass, according to an academy news release.
Academy officials say the two lost men were woefully unprepared for the weather and terrain. Temperatures were in the single digits, and white-out conditions made navigating the trail difficult.
The two disoriented hikers had no food and little water, and with sunset approaching, toed a dangerous line between life and death, the release read.
“They had lost the trail and weren’t sure how to get down the mountain. They had no flashlight, map, GPS rescue beacon or shelter,” said Lt. Col. Robert Marshall, the officer-in-charge of the Air Force Academy’s Cadet Mountaineering Club.
The cadets involved in the rescue are part of the mountaineering club and have summited several of Colorado’s tallest peaks.
