A MISSING hiker has been rescued in Colorado wearing only a hoodie, and was so hypothermic rescuers mistook him for a rock when they found him.

A severe snowstorm on Wednesday left a climber stranded near the summit of Mount Princeton in Chaffee County, southeast of Aspen, Colorado.

The climber, who has not yet been identified, had decided to “bushwack” or blaze his own trail to the mountain peak rather than follow established trail paths.

However, when the storm hit the outdoorsman found themselves without proper gear or food and having run out of water.

“With darkness approaching and hypothermia setting in the individual decided, rather than take the same way down the best plan was to bail down an avalanche chute to try to get to a road,” Chafee County Search and Rescue North (CCSAR-N) said.

The hiker was able to contact CCSAR-N via phone, but rescuers said they were unable to pull exact GPS coordinates.

They could not provide more details of their location besides that were in an avalanche chute east of Cottonwood Lake, so rescuers advised them to keep moving down the mountain.

Avalanche chutes are funnel-like clearings created by large, frequent avalanches, according to the US Forestry Service.

Read Related Also: Driver hauling excavator that hit bridge — causing concrete to fall on Loveland teacher — takes plea deal

A team of 25 search and rescuers trudged into the snowstorm to locate the climber and had to search several steep avalanche chutes, slippery and crowded with fallen trees and brush, until they found footprints just before 1 a.m.

The crew descended into a ravine, marching through almost 8 inches of snow, and followed the footprints until they found “an unusual looking rock” around 2 a.m., CCSAR-N said.

“Upon further investigation it was determined it was not a rock but the subject sitting upright in a fetal position covered in snow,” rescuers said.

The hiker was luckily found alive but was extremely hypothermic.

Rescuers said they spent the next three hours working to warm the climber before they began extraction around 5 a.m.

Ropes were used to lower the rescued down the gully, one section at a time, until about 6:15 a.m., when the hiker told rescuers that they could walk the rest of the way.

The hiker then walked accompanied by the rescue crew until they reached an ambulance where the hiker was evaluated by paramedics around 7 a.m., the agency said.

There was no update available on the climber’s condition at the time of this story.

As winter weather sets in, the rescue team posted a reminder on Facebook of taking a “knowing before going” approach to the weather while hiking.

They recommend outdoorsmen prepare before a trek by having the 10 essentials along with keeping properly equipped communication devices at the ready.