The 21-year-old man from Arizona was the second person to die while hiking in Colorado this week
Search and rescue teams have recovered the body of a 21-year-old hiker who fell 800 feet to his death while trying to navigate a technical traverse 20 miles southwest of Telluride, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
The search began Tuesday after the Arizona man was reported overdue from hiking the ridge between 14,000-foot peaks El Diente and Mount Wilson, the sheriff’s office said in a social media post. The man, who was described as an experienced climber, has not yet been publicly identified.
So did he die hiking or climbing?
This story is confusing
He died doing what he loved. Sucks that what he loved killed him.
died doing what he loved
He loved falling off mountains?
Don’t kink shame.
He didn’t die from climbing. Heck he really didn’t die from falling. He died from SDS, Sudden Deceleration Syndrome.
How experienced could he be he was only 21.
I was solo lead climbing 5.11 at 21. I started climbing when I needed a child sized harness.
He could have up to 21 years of experience!
Very. There are people I know that had spent hundreds of days navigating technically challenging terrain on everything from dry rock to wet ice by the time they were 21. Not saying this guy was that experienced, but don’t underestimate the fact that some people spend 2-3 days a week in challenging mountain terrain from the time they are 15.
Experience is an often misused and misunderstood term.
If someone does something “regularly” over a period of time, they will often consider themselves, and be considered, experienced with the task. This means nothing in and of itself. It doesn’t matter if they are bad at the task, it’s still experience and people often don’t differentiate between doing something badly for a long time vs being good at doing something.
Aye. In one sport I participate in, the saying goes that some people have twenty years’ experience, and some people have one year’s experience repeated twenty times.
How come we dedicate so many resources to rescuing one thrill seeker in the mountains but virtually no resources to people having other types of medical emergencies? Not saying we shouldn’t do that, all life is precious, but some is more precious than others it seems.
Like what medical emergencies? You don’t need to search for and extract someone who fell at home. You know where they are and it’s easy to get them to a hospital.
