Teen Rescued After Fall In Golden Mineshaft

GOLDEN, CO -- Emergency rescuers pulled a teen out of an abandoned mineshaft near Golden after the amateur climber fell around 60 feet Thursday when his clothesline rope snapped, Golden Fire Rescue reported. The climber fell around 10:20 a.m. near the intersection of near West Colfax Avenue and Interstate 70 on the hogs back ridge in the foothills of Jefferson County. KDVR reported the male climber had injuries to his legs.

Rescue crews from Golden Fire, West Metro Fire Rescue, AMR Ambulance, Jefferson County Open Spaces, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Alpine Rescue pulled the boy out of the hole and carried him on a stretcher to an ambulance.

Channel 9 later reported that the teen had skipped school to explore the abandoned clay mine along the hogback hill formation. This mine is one of about 10,000 open abandoned mines along the hogback hill formations in the Colorado foothills.

"They think they're going to find old relics," Jeff Graves told Channel 9. Graves is program director with the Inactive Mine Reclamation Program at the Colorado Division of Reclamation. "The miners didn't leave gold sitting out. They didn't leave their tools out for people to take home. They cleaned it out. So they're just dangerous openings with lots of potential issues."

Image via West Metro Fire Protection