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 Posted Wednesday, April 5, 2017 3:06 pm 
 
 North Table Mountain Park 
 
 4758 CO-93 
 
 Golden, CO 80401 
 
 View larger map 4758 CO-93Golden, CO 80401 
 
 A woman visiting Colorado from Europe was pinned under a boulder for about two hours on April 5 while hiking on North Table Mountain. 
 
 The 30-year-old woman was accompanied by a man — an experienced local climber — on the hike, who she had recently met through mutual friends. He told rescuers that he heard a loud crack and looked up to see a boulder coming down from 30 feet above them. The boulder rested on the woman’s legs. He estimated the size of the boulder to be about 5 feet by 4 feet. 
 
 Another hiker in the area ran down the mountain to obtain cell service and called 9-1-1. The call came in a little after 12:30 p.m., said City of Golden spokesperson Karlyn Tilley. 
 
 As he was running down the mountain, he came upon two other hikers who happened to be off-duty paramedics with the Littleton Fire Department. They ran up to help the woman and were able to start administering aid within minutes of the accident. 
 
 Golden Fire Department responded along with nearly 10 other agencies. Initial efforts were to stabilize the woman while finding a way to move the estimated 1,500-pound boulder. Ultimately, ATVs and crews on foot were able to get pieces of a hydraulic spreader up to the site of the accident, which was used in conjunction with airbags to lift the boulder enough to safely get the woman out from under it. 
 
 With the woman on a stretcher, it took rescuers about 45 minutes to an hour to get her to the top of the mountain by use of a rope system where a Flight for Life helicopter was waiting to transport her to a nearby hospital. Live helicopter video shows this happened at about 2:50 p.m. 
 
 She suffered multiple fractures, and as she was put into the chopper, she was unconscious but in stable condition. 
 
 The terrain on North Table Mountain is steep, and was muddy from melted snow on April 5 following a snowstorm the previous night. 
 
 Golden Fire trains often for this kind of rescue, Tilley said, although it is unusual for something like this to happen. 
 
 But "a freak accident can happen anywhere or anytime," she said. "We all know when we have mountains around, things can move." 
 
 There will be an investigation into what might have caused the boulder to move, Tilley said, but first priority was getting the injured hiker to safety. 
 
 The Golden Transcript will update this story as more information becomes available. 

 GOLDEN, Colo. – A woman who had a 1,500-pound boulder fall onto her leg while hiking at North Table Mountain Park Wednesday afternoon was extracted and airlifted to an area hospital in critical condition. 
 
 The boulder fell onto the 30-year-old woman’s leg sometime around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in what firefighters called a "freak accident." 
 
 Firefighters said both the woman's legs were crushed when the boulder fell on her and that she was pinned for at least an hour. 
 
 The woman had been removed from under the boulder and was airlifted in critical condition just after 3 p.m. 
 
 Golden Fire said just after 3 p.m. that the woman was unconscious but that "her vitals are fairly good." She is expected to survive. 
 
 The patient, being walked out now, is a 30 year old female. She is unconscious but her vitals are fairly good. — Golden Fire (@GoldenCOFire) April 5, 2017 
 
 Multiple agencies worked to help the woman, including Golden Fire and West Metro Fire. They used hydraulic equipment and airbags to remove the boulder. 
 
 The main parking lot at North Table Mountain Park and the Perry lot near Golden Cliffs were both closed during the rescue, but have since reopened. 
 
 Using a high angle rope system, hiker was carried up the ridge to a waiting Flight for Life helicopter. Great teamwork by several agencies. pic.twitter.com/IrgYGKWsXB — WestMetroFire (@WestMetroFire) April 5, 2017 
 
 The woman was from Europe and was not hiking with a group of eight people from the American Mountaineering Center, as authorities originally said. Golden Fire says the woman was in Colorado for a conference. 
 
 Firefighters said off-duty paramedics from Littleton were out for a hike when they saw the woman's friend running for help. The paramedics were on scene quickly and called 911, which firefighters said helped the woman's outcome. 
 
 Officials said weather may have played a factor in the boulder falling and hikers should be careful during cycles of freezing and thawing like we've seen in recent days. 
 
 After surveying the trail, officials decided not to close the area since there didn't appear to be any immediate safety concerns. 
 
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 A 30-year-old woman was critically injured when she was struck by and trapped under a 1,500-pound boulder while hiking at the popular North Table Mountain Park in Golden Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 As she was being rescued, the Golden Fire Department said she had multiple fractures and was unconscious, “but her vitals are fairly good.” 
 
 The woman’s legs were pinned under the boulder and it took more than two hours for rescue crews to free her. They used a hydraulic system that was hiked up to the scene, about an hour from the trailhead. 
 
 A team of about a dozen first responders then carried the woman about 45 minutes up a steep, snowy hill to a waiting Flight For Life helicopter. She was loaded on the chopper and then flown to an undisclosed hospital. 
 
 Golden fire spokeswoman Karlyn Tilley said the woman was hiking with a man to an area where they planned to mountain climb when the boulder fell. 
 
 “They were trying to just get to a place,” Tilley said. “They were looking around. The gentleman that was with her said he heard a large crack and looked up to see the boulder release. It just barely missed him.” 
 
 “It was a casual hike,” she added. “There was nothing unusual about the hike that they were on. It’s a very, very popular trail.” 
 
 Tilley says no one else was injured by the massive rock. Officials initially reported the injured woman was in a large group, but later clarified that information to say there were others nearby when the boulder broke loose. 
 
 Crews were dispatched to the scene at about 12:30 p.m. and it wasn’t until roughly 2:45 p.m. that authorities announced she had been freed. 
 
 Hiker has multiple fractures and is in critical condition. First responders are working to stabilize her and get the boulder off. pic.twitter.com/UlGUQG4YBc — Golden Fire (@GoldenCOFire) April 5, 2017 
 
 Details on how the woman was struck by the boulder and her identity were not released. 
 
 “The focus has just been on getting her rescued,” Tilley said. “No one has been focused on the how and why. I think that will come next. They were not doing anything wrong. It happened so quick that she wasn’t able to get out of the way in time.” 
 
 Rockslides often occur during the spring freeze-thaw cycle. Large boulders can break free from mountainsides during drastic temperature changes. 
 
 Two paramedics from Littleton happened to be in the area when the woman became trapped. “They went up and were almost immediately able to start rendering aid to her,” Tilley said. 
 
 GFD & 5 or 6 other agencies are now working to rescue a female hiker trapped by a 1500 pound boulder on North Table Mtn. pic.twitter.com/kwuGF8JN3C — Golden Fire (@GoldenCOFire) April 5, 2017 
 
 Roughly 10 emergency agencies worked to rescue the woman. 
 
 “Great teamwork by several agencies,” West Metro Fire Rescue said in a tweet.
– It took hours, but a 30-year-old female hiker was rescued Wednesday afternoon after being hit and pinned by a 1,500-pound rock at North Table Mountain Park in Golden, Colo. The woman and a male companion were hiking to an area where they were going to mountain climb when the man heard "a large crack," a spokesperson for the Golden Fire Department tells the Denver Post. He looked up and saw the boulder start to fall from 30 feet above; "it just barely missed him," the spokesperson says. The rock, which was about 5 feet by 4 feet, per the Golden Transcript, was moving too fast for the woman to get out of the way, struck her, and pinned her legs underneath it. About 10 emergency agencies were involved in the rescue; rescue crews and ATVs had to hike a hydraulic system and airbags to the woman, who was about an hour from the trailhead. It took more than two hours to free her, and then rescuers carried her 45 minutes to a helicopter at the top of the mountain that took her to the hospital. Though she was critically injured—she had multiple fractures and was unconscious during the rescue—the fire department says her vital signs were "fairly good." As the Post explains, rockslides are a fairly typical occurrence during the temperature changes involved in the freeze-thaw cycle in the spring. The woman, a European who was in Colorado for a conference, is expected to survive, per the Denver Channel.