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Mount Royal rescue Wednesday ends with pizza party; ‘cliffed out’ hiker suffers minor injuries after fall

Members of Summit County Rescue Group respond to a hiker who took a tumble on Mount Royal Wednesday, July 27, 2022.
Summit County Sheriff’s Office/Courtesy photo

A “cliffed out” hiker led rescuers up the north face of Mount Royal Wednesday, July 27. The 4.5 hour rescue ended with minor injuries to the hiker and a pizza party for everyone involved.

“This is a call we get routinely every year or two — when someone mistakes a game trail for a quicker route down and ends up in treacherous terrain,” Summit County Rescue group wrote on their Facebook page.

A “cliffed out” hiker can’t continue down further but also can’t go back the way they came.



Rescuers help a stuck hiker navigate the north face of Mount Royal Wednesday, July 27.
Summit County Rescue Group/Courtesy photo

Summit County Rescue Group said the hiker took a tumble while navigating a minor trail and was “a bit banged up.” About 10 rescuers scrambled and bushwacked 400 feet up the mountain from a trail just below Masontown. Rescuers lowered the hiker off the ledge in a harness, and she was able to walk the rest of the way with the rescue team.

Summit County Rescue Group Spokesperson Anna DeBattiste said deputies with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Operations Department provided pizza for the rescuers and hiker after she was down safely and gave a hug to her mother.



The injured hiker who could not make it down Mount Royal Wednesday, July 27, hugs a loved one after making it down safely.
Summit County Rescue Group/Courtesy photo

“The lesson for the public, obviously, is to stay on the main trail, unless you are a climber with knowledge of the routes, climbing equipment and a plan,” DeBattiste said.

Overall, 30 rescuers responded to the call, DeBattiste said, and it was the first time three generations of rescuers were on a mission: Dan Burnett, his son-in-law Sage Miller and Miller’s 2-year-old son were all at the scene.

Rescuers look up at Mount Royal, where a hiker became “cliffed out” Wednesday, July 27.
Summit County Rescue Group/Courtesy photo

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