A Colorado woman died Sunday after falling 500 feet while free-solo climbing a ridge at Rocky Mountain National Park, authorities said.
The unidentified 26-year-old died while climbing on the Four Aces of Blitzen Ridge, on Ypsilon Mountain on the east side of the park, according to information released by the National Park Service on Monday.
Free-soloing is a form of climbing “where the climber forgoes ropes, harnesses and other protective gear while ascending and relies only on his or her physical strength, climbing ability, and psychological fortitude to avoid a fatal fall,” according to an NPS glossary.
The woman’s unidentified 27-year-old male climbing partner, also from Boulder, notified park rangers of her fall, the federal agency said. Members of the park’s search and rescue team located the man on Sunday night, and rescued him with the help of the California Air National Guard, which used a helicopter to hoist him to safety, according to NPS. The man was uninjured.
Members of the park’s search and rescue team recovered the woman’s body early Monday, NPS said, adding that the Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the cause of death.
The woman will be publicly identified after her family has been notified, according to NPS.
The fatality marks the second death at the park this month: an unidentified 25-year-old Rhode Island man died on July 2 after falling and being pulled underwater at Rocky Mountain’s West Creek Falls, on the east side of the park, the NPS said.
A park representative could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
