A hiker allegedly blocked by his colleagues on a Colorado mountain was raising money for World Central Kitchen
An insurer who was rescued from a central Colorado mountain after being allegedly abandoned by his colleagues was hiking to raise money for World Central Kitchen, his company said.
The hiker, Steve Stephanides, 46, was rescued Saturday after spending a night stranded on 14,230-foot Mount Shavano during a freezing rain storm, authorities said.
Contacted by ABC News on Wednesday, Stephanides said his company, Beazley Global Insurance Company, was still gathering information about the shipment and referred all questions to his company’s spokesperson.
Adrian Cox, CEO of London-based Breazley, released a statement to ABC News Thursday morning, praising Chaffee County Search and Rescue – South, an all-volunteer rescue team in Colorado, for saving his employee’s life.
Volunteer rescuers transport hiker Steve Stephanides, who became disoriented and lost on a 14,230-foot mountain in central Colorado after his coworkers allegedly left him alone during an office charity hike.
Chaffee County South Search and Rescue/Facebook
“We are very grateful to Chaffee County Search and Rescue for coming to the aid of one of our employees after he got into trouble while on a charity hike. The quick response and courageous actions of Chaffee County Search and Rescue, in inclement weather conditions, resulted in our colleague being rescued and safely returned,” Cox said.
A Beazely spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that the company’s employees were on Mount Shavano as part of an annual charity hike to raise money for World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit humanitarian organization founded in 2010 by celebrity chef José Andrés to deliver meals to disaster areas around the world, including war zones in Ukraine and Gaza.
Volunteer rescuers transport hiker Steve Stephanides, who became disoriented and lost on a 14,230-foot mountain in central Colorado after his coworkers allegedly left him alone during an office charity hike.
Chaffee County South Search and Rescue/Facebook
“This charity walk has been running for over a decade and many people have participated multiple times,” Cox said. “We are proud of their commitment to their fundraising efforts and will continue to work with those involved to ensure they fully recover from this incident and get the support they need.”
Cox did not provide additional details about how the near-tragedy occurred during the office’s annual charity hike.
“In what could lead to awkward office encounters in the days and weeks to come, one member of their group was left alone to complete their final push toward the summit,” Chaffee County Search and Rescue – South said in a statement.
Online posts and previous photos from Beazely’s colleagues indicate that this was at least the second year in a row that Stephanides had participated in the charity hike.
The office outing gone awry happened Friday on Mount Shavano in the San Isabel National Forest in central Colorado, according to Danny Andres, president of the volunteer rescue group.
“Our subject was approaching the summit and took a break, and some of the people who were in his group were starting to come back down,” Danny Andres told ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday. “He decided to continue climbing to the summit.”
While 14 workers made it down the mountain safely, rescuers said only one had to complete the summit alone. Andres said the worker reached the summit at 11:30 a.m., but when he tried to descend, he “became disoriented as to where the trail was.”
The hiker used his cellphone to report his location to his colleagues, who informed him he was on the wrong route and asked him to hike back up to the summit to join the correct descent trail, rescue officials said in a statement.
“During his first attempts to descend, he found himself in a field of steep rocks and scree on the northeastern slopes towards Lake Shavano,” authorities said.
Volunteer rescuers transport hiker Steve Stephanides, who became disoriented and lost on a 14,230-foot mountain in central Colorado after his coworkers allegedly left him alone during an office charity hike.
Chaffee County South Search and Rescue/Facebook
Shortly before 4 p.m. local time on Friday, Stephanides sent another message to his colleagues to let them know he was near the correct runway. Shortly after that message, a severe storm swept through the area, bringing freezing rain and strong winds, rescue officials said in a statement.
“Being in that kind of cold, freezing rain and winds, it wears you out,” Andres said.
At least seven different rescue teams from across Colorado were involved in the search for Stephanides.
Stephanides also lost cellphone reception while descending the mountain and, after his rescue, he told rescuers that he had fallen at least 20 times on the steep slopes and was unable to get up the last time he fell.
The rescue helicopter used to rescue hiker Steve Stephanides, who became disoriented and lost on a 14,230-foot mountain in central Colorado after his co-workers allegedly left him alone on an office charity hike.
South Chaffee County Search and Rescue
To make matters worse, Stephanides’ colleagues had inexplicably retrieved objects left in a boulder field to mark the descent path, authorities said.
After not hearing from him, his colleagues reported Stephanides missing at 9 p.m., about eight and a half hours after he began his descent, authorities said.
Rescue crews found Stephanides in a ravine near a drainage creek and carried him down the mountain on a stretcher, authorities said. He was taken to a hospital in stable condition, authorities said.
Rescuers said Stephanides was “phenomenal” lucky that the weather improved Saturday and he regained enough cell service to call 911.
“All the teams that participated in the operation are volunteer rescuers,” Andres said. “It’s tiring, but it’s rewarding to be able to reach out to people and reunite them with their loved ones. It’s fantastic.”
ABC News’ Laryssa Demkiw and Emme Marchese contributed to this report.
