Custer County Search and Rescue was notified at 00:30 on Monday that three climbers who planned to climb the Ellingwood Arête were overdue. They were supposed to be back at their camp at dark which was located at Lower South Colony lake on Sunday evening. The 911 call was made by a concerned fourth member of the party who was at camp.
Twelve members of CCSAR responded to the call. A CCSAR team met the three climbers at 08:00 as they descended down Broken Hand Pass.
Evidently the subjects had reached the top of Ellingwood Arête at 21:30 Sunday evening. On the way back via the standard route to Broken Hand Pass a turn was missed and they became cliffed-out. They remained there till first light when one member of the party rappelled down to the Cottonwood Lake area and back up over Broken Hand Pass while the other two scrambled back up the gully to where they had missed their turn and met the other party on Broken hand Pass…
The three subjects were well supplied with climbing gear, clothes, food, water and were in excellent shape.