Mountain guide Andrew Plagans is pictured here, in December 2021, when he was skiing on Cement Creek Road near Silverton. Plagans, who previously lived in Ridgway and worked for San Juan Mountain Guides, is fighting stage 4 colorectal cancer. Few treatment options with his health insurance here led him to move to the Front Range. Photo courtesy Andrew Plagans
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Mountain guide faces biggest obstacle yet: stage 4 cancer
Andrew Plagans had no idea his life would change so much in February, when he went to the doctor to get checked out.
The 39-year-old mountain guide hadn’t been feeling right. It was getting so bad he couldn’t do the things he normally did – riding mountain bikes and motorcycles. At first, he thought maybe it was just hemorrhoids. He just wanted to get fixed so he could continue with his plans to finish the season in the San Juans, then move on to Alaska and guide in Denali National ...
