AVSAR rescue team recovers body from Blanca Peak

HUERFANO COUNTY — One man is dead after falling during a hike near Blanca Peak in Huerfano County.

Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue were called to an area just past the Alamosa County line in Huerfano County on Wednesday, Sept. 7, after receiving a distress call from Justin Seagren who had reportedly fallen while descending from Blanca Peak.

ASVAR team members were flown in by Flight for Life with technical gear near one of the Blue Lakes. After several passes in the helicopter, Seagren’s body was spotted but there were no signs of life or movement.

After a technical plan was created, it was decided that a highly skilled technical team would be needed to recover Seagren’s body. Canon City Helitack arrived on the scene to help assist with Seagren’s extraction. Two team members rappelled down to the subject’s location, packaged the body and then hauled the subject around 300 feet to the Ridgeline between the summit of Blanca at around 14,000 feet.

Once the subject was hauled to the Ridgeline, Canon City Helitack flew in with a line attached to the bottom of the helicopter and completed the extraction.