CU ski star dies in fall on Maroon Peak
- Details
- Created on Sunday, 15 August 2010 04:49
- Written by Duane Wagler
Photo by member Josh Friesema
By KIRK MITCHELL and KEVIN SIMPSON, THE DENVER POST
A 20-year-old climber died Saturday near Aspen after being struck in the head by a rock and tumbling about 600 feet into a culoir.
Spencer James Nelson, a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a member of its nationally-ranked ski team, already had summited one of the 14,000-foot Maroon Peaks and was headed back down with seven other people, including his father.
On the traverse between the north and south peaks, at about 13,000 feet, Nelson was struck by a falling rock and fell into the Bell Chord couloir, said deputy Alex Burchetta, spokesman for the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office.
He was wearing a helmet at the time.
His companions lost sight of him.
Members of Mountain Rescue Aspen, the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department, the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Forest Service and Flight for Life, began a search at 11:45 a.m., Burchetta said. A Blackhawk helicopter from the Colorado National Guard also helped transport equipment and personnel for the effort.
Two off-duty Mountain Rescue members who happened to be hiking in the area found him. Saturday evening, authorities confirmed that Nelson, of Winter Park, had died. Recovery operations were suspended at nightfall and will resume Sunday.
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