Woman dies after falling 500 feet at Rocky Mountain National Park

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO)-- A woman is now dead after falling from the Four Aces of Blitzen Ridge (located on Ypsilon Mountain) in Rocky Mountain National Park during a free-solo climb. 

According to the National Park Service, on Sunday, July 9, the 26-year-old Boulder woman was with her climbing partner, a 27-year-old man also from Boulder whose name has not been released, when he notified park rangers, via cell phone, of her fall. 

However, Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue Team members were only able to reach him that night on Sunday, July 9. 

Due to the climbers’ location, the park had to request assistance from a Colorado Air National Guard helicopter from the Buckley Air Force Base to reach the man. 

Rocky Mountain Rescue Group assisted with the helicopter hoist operation which used a winch operated cable. 

National Park Service officials state the man was uninjured at the time of the incident. 

In the early morning hours of Monday, July 10, Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue Team members hiked to an area above Ypsilon Lake to prepare for a helicopter long-line recovery. 

That’s when the woman’s body was flown by the Northern Colorado Interagency Helitak to a helispot in the Upper Beaver Meadows area of the park. 

National Park Service officials state the woman’s body was then transferred to the Larimer County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s Office who is now determining a cause of death. 

Officials state the woman’s name will be released after her family is notified.