Sangre de Cristco- Mark

[thericks]

cparente@kwgn.com

WESTCLIFFE - Officials in Custer and Saguache counties said they suspended their search Sunday for a missing hiker in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near here.

Mark Stice of Arvada was reported overdue by his wife Sept. 22 after failing to return from a hiking trip that began five days earlier. He was due home no later than Sept. 21.

Stice's vehicle was parked at the South Colony trailhead, and his campsite was found Sept. 24. He did not sign any trail or summit registers and did not have a cellphone or emergency beacon, officials said.



Stice had hiked 13 of Colorado's 54 fourteeners in the previous 18 months. He hiked Humboldt Peak in May and Longs Peak in early September. But officials believed he would not have been adequately prepared for the rapidly changing weather conditions. Over eight days, searchers encountered snowfall on difficult terrain, ice and falling rock and ice.

Stice had hiked up Humboldt Peak this year, but officials believe he was unaware of the technical challenges he might encounter on more difficult peaks. He also was reported to descend off route frequently.

He left no itinerary with family, friends or co-workers.

Volunteer search-and-rescue teams from Saguache, Custer, Fremont and Douglas counties, Vail Mountain Rescue and Western State participated in the search. The Colorado Search and Rescue Board provided two helicopters from the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training division from Gypsum.

[jdorje]

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