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Capitol Peak, a fourteener southwest of Aspen, was the site of a fatal fall on Friday.
ASPEN, Colorado — A Colorado Springs climber fell to his death on Capitol Peak, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office.
The man, who's name has not been released, was one of two Colorado Springs climbers attempting to summit Capitol Peak, a fourteener about 16 miles southwest of Aspen. The man who died reportedly fell several hundred feet on the northeast side of the mountain, at an elevation of about 13,000 feet.
Mountain Rescue Aspen and a Flight for Life helicopter were summoned when the sheriff's office received the call, at about 2:45 p.m. Several Mountain Rescue members were transported with the Flight for Life crew to the closest possible landing zone. Two rescue ground teams also made their way to the fallen climber.
The helicopter team and Flight for Life paramedic reached the climber within a half-hour and began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The patient was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m.
Identification of the man is being withheld, pending notification of his family.
Capitol Peak is technically the most difficult fourteener climb in the Elk Mountain range, according to Lou Dawson II's Colorado Fourtneers climbing guide. The standard route takes climbers up the peak's infamous Knife Ridge, a thin ridge of rock northeast of the summit.
The man, who's name has not been released, was one of two Colorado Springs climbers attempting to summit Capitol Peak, a fourteener about 16 miles southwest of Aspen. The man who died reportedly fell several hundred feet on the northeast side of the mountain, at an elevation of about 13,000 feet.
Mountain Rescue Aspen and a Flight for Life helicopter were summoned when the sheriff's office received the call, at about 2:45 p.m. Several Mountain Rescue members were transported with the Flight for Life crew to the closest possible landing zone. Two rescue ground teams also made their way to the fallen climber.
The helicopter team and Flight for Life paramedic reached the climber within a half-hour and began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The patient was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m.
Identification of the man is being withheld, pending notification of his family.
Capitol Peak is technically the most difficult fourteener climb in the Elk Mountain range, according to Lou Dawson II's Colorado Fourtneers climbing guide. The standard route takes climbers up the peak's infamous Knife Ridge, a thin ridge of rock northeast of the summit.
