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Man hiking incline impaled leg on rebar
Rescuers carried him down Barr Trail
A 56-year-old man suffered a serious injury Monday afternoon while hiking up the Manitou Incline when he tripped and impaled his leg on a rebar, said Patrick Kerscher, spokesman for El Paso County Search and Rescue.
Paul Cohen, an experience climber, was carried by litter down Barr Trail and taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Initial reports that Cohen had severed his femoral artery, a life-threatening injury, were incorrect, Kerscher said.
The accident happened around 12:30 p.m. Monday, about halfway up the incline.
Search and Rescue and and Manitou Springs firefighters took part in the rescue.
The Incline, where a train once carried tourists up Mount Manitou, has officially been closed to the public for years, but as many as 70,000 people annually break the law for the leg-burning workout and great views.
The trail is owned by three different entities - the Cog Railway owns the middle, Colorado Springs Utilities owns the bottom and the U.S. Forest Service owns the top. The three are working toward an agreement for making the Incline legally open to the public.
