By John Cordsen for the Estes Park Trail Gazette

And press reports

A Minnesota woman spent a cold night below Longs Peak in near freezing temperatures after falling Sunday afternoon.

Sheila Townsend, 48, from Chaska, Minn. spent the night on Longs Peak near the False Keyhole at approximately 13,000 feet before being discovered by other hikers early Monday morning. Rocky Mountain National Park officials say Sunday night’s weather at the 13,000-foot altitude included near freezing temperatures and wind.

Townsend fell approximately 4 p.m. Sunday while hiking alone. She took a 200-foot tumbling fall down from the False Keyhole area above The Ledges on the Longs Peak Trail and lost consciousness. Park officials say it was unclear whether she tried to call for help Sunday afternoon or whether there was anyone in the vicinity that late in the afternoon when she fell. It wasn’t until early Monday morning when hikers heard Townsend’s calls for help and used a cell phone to contact Park officials. Park staff reported they also received a call Monday morning around 10:30 a.m. from the patient’s boyfriend in Minnesota who was concerned that he had not heard from her.

Rangers left the trailhead at 9 a.m. and reached Townsend at 11 a.m.  She was conscious but had sustained multiple injuries, including head injuries, in the fall.

A complicated high angle rescue began at 11:50 a.m. The patient was secured in a litter and brought 200 vertical feet up to the False Keyhole. At 1:20 p.m., Park staff lowered her 400 to 500 vertical feet on the north side of the False Keyhole down to the Boulderfield. The team reached the bottom of the high angle terrain at 1:45 p.m.  Townsend was carried to a landing zone in the Boulderfield to a waiting helicopter. She was flown by Flight for Life from St. Anthony’s Hospital at 3:25 p.m. to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland. Twenty-five Park staff were involved in this rescue with assistance from a paramedic from Estes Park Medical Center as well as 10 members of Larimer County Search and Rescue.

The False Keyhole area on the Longs Peak Trail is a hazardous route. Some people stay too high (rather than following the “fried eggs” – the paint markings – down) and begin to cross over to that area thinking it’s the Keyhole. There is a sign near the False Keyhole “danger do not descend False Keyhole” letting people know that it is not the Keyhole and to turn back.

This is the third major rescue in the Park involving a Flight for Life helicopter based out of St. Anthony’s in Denver since Aug. 8.

The Aug. 8 accident was in the rugged Batman Pinnacle and Batman Rock area of Lumpy Ridge just outside of Estes Park. That accident involved a 36-year-old climber from Boston, Mass. who was seriously injured when a number of rocks fell, injuring his right leg.

Following a six-hour carry-out the man was flown to the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland by a Flight for Life helicopter based out of St. Anthony’s.

The second accident was on the Park’s west side.

Casey Plank, 25, of Seattle, Wash. was injured Aug. 11. while bouldering alone about two miles up the East Inlet Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. She initially fell 10 to 15 feet and rolled another 20 to 25 feet along loose talus rock and scree. A hiker heard her fall and called for help via a cell phone. The woman suffered numerous serious injuries and contusions. She was flown to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Denver by Flight for Life.