26-year-old woman falls 500 feet to death at Rocky Mountain National Park, rangers say

A 26-year-old woman plummeted 500 feet to her death while free solo climbing in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, rangers say.

The woman from Boulder was climbing Blitzen Ridge on Ypsilon Mountain at the popular park when she fell Sunday, July 9, rangers said in a news release.

Free solo climbers scale peaks without safety lines or other equipment.

The woman’s 27-year-old climbing partner called rangers after she fell, officials said. A helicopter later rescued him from the ridge, although he was not injured.

A rescue team recovered the woman’s body and it was airlifted to the Larimer County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine her cause of death, rangers said.

The woman’s name has not been released pending notification of her family.

On July 2, searchers found the body of a 25-year-old man who had vanished earlier that day after falling into West Creek Falls at the national park, McClatchy News reported.

The 415-square-mile Rocky Mountain National Park in northern Colorado saw 4.3 million visitors in 2022, the National Park Service said.

This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 7:01 AM with the headline "26-year-old woman falls 500 feet to death at Rocky Mountain National Park, rangers say."