Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

By AMY BOUNDS, BOULDER DAILY CAMERA

A third fatality on Longs Peak this summer makes this one of the deadliest years for the mountain.

John M. Regan, a 57-year-old from Wichita, Kan., died Saturday after falling about 300 feet from The Ledges on the Keyhole Route of Longs Peak. As summer conditions continue to fade, Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday changed the rating of that path to technical, making it a climbing route -- not for hikers -- where safety equipment is needed.

Longs Peak is considered one of the more dangerous 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado because of its long approach, high winds and narrow ledges.

Jim Detterline, who worked as a ranger on Longs Peak for 20 years and has summitted the mountain 359 times, said there's no one reason why there have been so many deaths this year. But in general, he said, accidents can result from underestimating the difficulty of the climb, wearing the wrong footwear or simply having bad luck.

"Longs Peak is a very serious mountain," said Detterline, 54, of Estes Park. "It does have some inherent hazards. People have died on Longs Peak who were at the top of their game in mountaineering. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He also noted that September's weather has extended the season, allowing more people to tackle the mountain. But in the past few days, he said, the conditions have changed thanks to snow above treeline, which melts and then freezes into black ice.

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