A man was rescued last week from a gorge near Ouray after he drove a pickup truck over the edge of Red Mountain Pass, according to rescuers.
Multiple agencies responded to the scenic stretch of U.S. 550 known as the Million Dollar Highway at about 12:20 p.m. Thursday, according to the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team.
The man’s pickup truck went off the edge of the mountain pass between mile markers 88 and 89, plummeting roughly 300 feet into the Uncompahgre Gorge, rescue officials said.
Rescue officials said the driver in Thursday’s crash was the only person in the vehicle and sustained minor injuries. Crews were able to perform a technical rope rescue and helped him climb out of the gorge.
Southbound U.S. 550 was closed for roughly two hours during the rescue, according to the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office.
Two people died in August after driving over the edge of Red Mountain Pass near mile marker 88. Their car rolled hundreds of feet down the mountain and landed upside down in a creek.
One girl survived the crash but was trapped in the car for multiple hours until emergency crews rescued her, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
The driver in that crash was later found to have nearly 40 times the legal limit of marijuana in his system, according to the coroner.
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