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Shop NowA tragedy at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine claimed the life of tour guide Patrick Weier, on Thursday. He reportedly died protecting the safety of the tourists he was escorting 1,000 feet underground. All 23 visitors were rescued safely.
Mine tour tragedy
No trip to legendary Cripple Creek, Colorado, would be complete without a tour through the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine. The family owned and operated glimpse of history safely guides thousands of visitors through each year. On Thursday, October 10, the elevator malfunctioned about halfway down the 1,000 foot main shaft.
Details are sparse but relate something happened, affecting the door, which directly caused the death of the tour guide. Seven of his eleven passengers sustained minor injuries. Another group of twelve were stranded at the bottom but safe all along.
Two children were in the group which sustained injuries, though it’s not clear if they were injured or simply shaken up. Either way, they were checked out at a nearby hospital. All seven patients from the mine incident were released home.
“Multiple agencies, including search and rescue teams, responded to the incident with heavy equipment.” The owner and his son were both on site and scrambling to restore access.
By 6:45 p.m. they had the elevator working again. Once they got the tour guide and his 11 frightened passengers up and out, police rescuers “safely brought up all 12 people trapped underground.”
All they had been told was that there was a problem with the elevator. They didn’t learn about the fatality until after they were out of the mine.
He loved his job
According to Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell, he “does not know exactly what occurred,” but believes tour guide Patrick Weier “was attempting to make everybody safe.” He does know “that he was a good man, and he loved his job.” He’s “survived by a 7-year-old.”
The 46-year-old was only one of the guides at the mine. “We know that at 500 feet is where the issue occurred. We know that there was some type of an incident with the doors, and at that point, something went wrong,” Sheriff Mikesell said. “We don’t know what caused that.”
Another party of 12, with their guide, were already on the tour deep down at the 1,000 foot level. They were stuck in the mine for around six hours. They didn’t have to worry about air running out and they had plenty of light and power.
They simply didn’t have an elevator to get back up. That’s all they were told at the time. To get them out, “engineers had to repair the elevator stuck at 500 feet, check the cables and then run a test round by sending it down to the 1000-foot level and back up.”
The “owner of the mine rode with inspectors to confirm the elevator could go down safely, while the owner’s son operated the hoist system to lower it,” the sheriff explained. “Without their help, we may not have been able to get people up out of there.”
The stuck tourists are glad they were kept clueless. The mine provided “water, chairs and blankets.” They “were able to communicate with rescuers.” Visitor Rhonda Pulse said their guide “did a very good job” of distracting them while waiting. “The whole time we were down there,” They were a “little uncomfortable, but there was no panic.“
