Officials: 2 Missing Colorado College Students Died After 'Catastrophic Failure' During Hike
Authorities said the students died instantly from multiple blunt force injuries after a climbing anchor failed during a rappel.
- On Wednesday, the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office announced completion of its investigation into the deaths of Kaden Matsuda, 19, and Jackson Donlon, 20, who died during a climbing accident on West Apostle Mountain.
- Investigators determined the pair died when a climbing anchor suffered a "catastrophic failure" during an attempted rappel. Despite being backed up by a piton and secondary anchor, the system failed, causing both to fall a substantial distance.
- Matsuda and Donlon set out from Colorado Mountain College's Leadville campus on October 23 for a weekend excursion. Searchers discovered their tent near Lake Ann after they failed to return, recovering their bodies on October 29.
- Autopsies performed Monday in El Paso County confirmed the hikers died instantly from multiple blunt-force injuries. The Sheriff's Office investigation concluded the severe snowstorm did not directly cause the deaths.
- Chaffee County Sheriff Andy Rohrich commended the students' preparation and expressed relief that neither suffered. He stated Matsuda and Donlon will be remembered as an example of responsible mountaineering.
56 Articles
56 Articles
Anchor Failure, Not Storm, Blamed in College Climbers' Deaths
Two Colorado college slimbers killed in the Rockies died instantly from a fall caused by anchor failure, not the aging snowstorm that complicated the search for them, the Colorado Sun reports. Autopsies found both 19-year-old Kaden Matsuda and 20-year-old Jackson Donlon suffered multiple blunt-force injuries after plunging a "substantial" distance...
Hastings Tribune
2 college students found dead in Colorado mountains fell to their deaths when climbing anchor broke
The two college students whose bodies were recovered last week in the Colorado mountains died when an anchor they were using to climb failed and they fell a “substantial distance,” authorities said Tuesday.
College students found dead in mountains fell to deaths when climbing anchor broke
Authorities say the two Colorado college students whose bodies were recovered last week died when an anchor they were using to climb failed and they fell a “substantial distance."
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