DIVIDE • The person who died in Thursday’s elevator malfunction during tours at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek was identified as Patrick Weier, a tour guide at the mine.
Weier, 46, is survived by a 7-year-old son, officials said during a news conference Friday at the Teller County Sheriff’s Office.
Weier was a resident of Victor, a town of about 400 just south of Cripple Creek.
The malfunction was reported about noon Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office said. Four people were treated for minor injuries, and among 23 rescued over a seven-hour period.
“Everybody will be in mourning when they realize who it is,” said Victor Mayor Barbara Manning.
Weier was about to become a volunteer firefighter, Manning said.
“You were one of the best men that I’ve had the privilege to get to know,” said one commenter on Weier’s Facebook page Friday, which has become an outlet of grief in the wake of the news.
“This is a county tragedy; this is a Colorado tragedy,” said Dan Williams, a Teller County commissioner.
Officials said there was a malfunction with the door of the elevator at the 500-foot mark of the mine tour that goes 1,000 feet deep.
“Currently we don’t know what happened at 500 feet to cause this,” Teller Sheriff Jason Mikesell said Friday.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is among the agencies investigating the incident.
Officials at the news conference said the elevator operator at the top of the shaft sensed a problem with the elevator’s operation while 11 people were onboard, including two children. When the elevator reached the main level, it was discovered that Weier had died and four other adults had suffered minor injuries.
Officials reported Thursday that the injuries included back and neck pain, and were treated on scene. The four injured received medical care at the scene, and the entire group was also provided mental health services to help deal with the trauma, according to the Teller County Sheriff’s Office.
Another group of 12 tour takers and a mine tour guide were at the 1,000-foot level of the mine at the time of the malfunction. They were notified that they would be brought back to the surface when the elevator was deemed safe. Officials credited the group’s tour guide’s efforts during the hours-long ordeal.
“He kept them happy and healthy down there,” Mikesell said.
The group was provided pizza (their request) upon reaching the surface.
The elevator was tested and deemed safe around 6 p.m. An hour later, the last batch of the 12 stranded at the bottom were brought to the surface. All 12 were unhurt, according to the sheriff.
Officials confirmed all of the individuals were out-of-state tourists and were provided hotels for the night. None of them was made aware of the situation while they were stuck underground, other than being told of a “broken elevator.” Upon their ascent, officials said they were “grateful” they were not told.
Regional response
Gov. Jared Polis’ office released a statement Thursday night. “I am relieved that 12 of the people trapped in the Mollie Kathleen Mine have been safely rescued. Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the individual lost in this incident.
“I thank Teller County and Sheriff Mikesell and his team, as well as the other law enforcement and first responders from local and state government for their swift response and tireless efforts, including members of the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Thanks to this collaborative effort, each of these individuals will return home safely.”
The state had a field manager from the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on the scene and the State Emergency Operations Center was activated and supporting resource requests, according to the governor’s office. Both a mine rescue team from the Department of Natural Resources and a Department of Labor and Employment conveyances inspector were called on, according to the governor’s news release.
The Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Springs Fire Department, with its heavy-rescue and high-angle crews, were among the agencies that responded to the mine.
“We are immensely grateful for the quick response of all the agencies involved and are holding everyone in our prayers,” Cripple Creek Mayor Annie Durham said.
Officials give an update Thursday after a deadly incident at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine.
The mine
The Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine is a former gold mine turned into a tourist destination that takes guests on a vertical descent 100 floors below ground, according to its website. Tours are done at 1,000 feet, but the elevator shaft is deeper than that.
In 2021, a group gets a tour of the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine.
The mine has two shafts and uses a hoist elevator, said William Snare, a former hoist operator at the mine. The elevator can carry nine to 15 people, depending on overall weight.
Snare said it takes two minutes to descend the 1,000 feet, while the ride back up lasts four to five minutes.
The last day of the tours this season was scheduled to be Sunday, according to the Mollie Kathleen website.
The mine was named after Mollie Kathleen Gortner, who in 1891 became the first woman in the Cripple Creek gold camp to discover gold and strike a claim in her own name, according to the website.
The mine closed in the 1960s, but with mine tours doing well at the time, a decision was made to continue the tours, the website stated.
Revenue from the tours is used to maintain the mine and ensure it is in “safe, operable mining condition,” according to the website.
This was not the first mishap at the mine.
According to Gazette archives from the Pikes Peak Library District’s digital collection, the elevator failed twice in summer 1994 and left visitors stranded for hours.
The state requires daily tests of tourist mines, according to records.