Man dies in fall from narrow ridge of Capitol Peak, a Colorado 14er

(Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

staff photo
The northeast ridge of Capitol Peak. (MostlyDeserts/Wikimedia Commons/CC)

The northeast ridge of Capitol Peak. (MostlyDeserts/Wikimedia Commons/CC)

A hiker was killed in a fall from a narrow ridge line on Capitol Peak near Aspen, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office.

Emergency responders scrambled to the scene after a hiker from another group called in the fall at about 8:20 a.m. on Sunday. Groups of volunteers with Mountain Rescue Aspen approached the scene on foot and in a Flight for Life helicopter.

The foot team assessed the area and determined that the man could not have survived. “Due to the precarious area,” the teams decided they would leave the man’s body until better weather allowed a safer extraction, according to the sheriff’s office. That might not be until Wednesday.

The man has not yet been identified. He is the second person to die on Capitol Peak in less than a month, according to the Aspen Times.

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