Hikers find body of missing climber miles into wilderness on Colorado peak, cops say
Hikers found the body of a climber who vanished on a Colorado peak, officials said.
Someone called to report the climber overdue from a climb in the Indian Peaks Wilderness at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 23, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release posted to Facebook.
That same morning, someone also reported the person overdue at Brainard Lake to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, officials said.
The person who called to report the climber missing told officials he had planned to take a route from Brainard Lake Recreation Area to Pawnee Pass, to Crater Lake, up Lone Eagle Peak, across to Apache Peak and back to Brainard, officials said.
The hikers found his body later that day around 12:15 p.m., officials said.
His body was in technical terrain near Lone Eagle Peak, about 8 miles into Indian Peaks Wilderness in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, officials said.
A rescue helicopter tried to access the area to retrieve the climber’s body, but weather and access issues interfered, officials said. The team tried again the next morning with the help of several other search and rescue teams and were able to retrieve the man’s body using technical rope specialists from Rocky Mountain Rescue Group.
The mission took all morning and into the afternoon, ending by 1:30 p.m., officials said. The team transported the man’s body to the Grand County Coroner, who will release the man’s identity and cause and manner of death “when appropriate.”
Several people commented on the post thanking the teams’ efforts to help the man’s grieving family and for communicating with the public about the mission.
“Wow so sad!” someone said. “It’s a hard reality check anything can happen in the mountains!”
This story was originally published July 25, 2024 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Hikers find body of missing climber miles into wilderness on Colorado peak, cops say."
