Another Tragedy on Capital Peak, CO

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Messages 1 - 15 of total 15 in this topic
crankster

Trad climber
No. Tahoe
Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 23, 2017 - 12:54pm PT
http://www.aspentimes.com/news/missing-aspen-couple-found-dead-below-capitol-peak-summit/

Sad deal, 4 deaths on Capitol Peak just this summer. RIP Ryan Marcil and Carlin Brightwell, condolences to family and friends.
blahblah

Gym climber
Boulder
Aug 23, 2017 - 01:18pm PT
Yes, very sad. (As a detail, it's Capitol.)

A beautiful mountain and an excellent, but dangerous, hike, perhaps especially to those without much mountain experience (although I don't know the experience of any of the victims of this year).
crankster

Trad climber
No. Tahoe
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 23, 2017 - 01:29pm PT
Thanks, blah. Corrected.

neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Aug 23, 2017 - 04:21pm PT
hey there say, crankster... very sad, but thank you for sharing...

folks may need to know, if they had not heard yet...
my condolences and prayers for the families and loved ones, to be
strong, at this hard sad time...
Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
Aug 23, 2017 - 04:26pm PT
So sad. The peak is very loose, especially if you venture off the more traveled paths. This could happen to anyone.
My condolences.
Bad Climber

Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
Aug 23, 2017 - 05:19pm PT
Damn. This really gets to me--such a young couple. Condolences to the family and friends. Damn, damn, damn.

BAd
Don Paul

Big Wall climber
Denver CO
Aug 24, 2017 - 08:21am PT
Not sure if I'd even heard of this mountain before, now 4 deaths in one summer season. It must have become more popular for some reason.
blahblah

Gym climber
Boulder
Aug 24, 2017 - 09:15am PT
^ ^ ^
What a strange comment.

All of the Colorado 14ers (those are mountains over 14,000' for out-of-staters) are very well known and popular hikes/climbs; Capitol perhaps more so than most as it's one of the more interesting and difficult of the 14ers to climb, it's close to Aspen, and it's a big and pretty mountain.

For people who aspire to climb all the 14ers but aren't technical climbers, the famous knife-edge traverse will be one of the highlights of any 14er. (It's no big deal to a technical climber of course, but everyone should treat a mountain like Capitol with respect. While the knife edge didn't give me much pause, I may have got a little off route on other parts of the hike/climb, and was definitely paying attention.)

I suppose if you've only heard of two or three mountains in Colorado, you may not have heard of Capitol. I finished hiking the 14ers, except Culebra, years ago and haven't really been on them since; I've been told they're even more popular now than in the past, but they've been extremely popular and well known in Colorado essentially forever.
Nick Danger

Ice climber
Arvada, CO
Aug 24, 2017 - 09:17am PT
This is really quite sad. From the available evidence there is just no way of knowing what misfortune resulted in their demise. My heart goes out to their families and friends. So sad to die so young.
micronut

Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
Aug 24, 2017 - 09:28am PT
Really sad. I found this hiker's forum and there are a few interesting posts....including a few parties who were the last to see the couple up there that day. My sincere condolences.


https://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=52868&sid=25858e9bb859a4576be06ee2481cd385&start=36

Sadly, I think I may have very possibly heard the incident. I was with a group of 4 and we were descending the ridge and about 5 minutes from the knife edge. We heard a significant rockslide from up near the summit. It was loud and It lasted roughly 30 seconds. At the time it sounded like it came from the south face but we could not see anything, it may have come from the north face.

Also, I had a friend who stopped at K2 and hung out there for a couple of hours while we summitted, I spoke with him last night and he specifically remembered speaking with the young couple. They had asked him if he knew of an alternate way to descend (which he did not). So very sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to friends and family.

and another poster...

I believe my partner and I were the last to see them at the summit. We climbed the ridge the whole way and were within 5-10 min of them the whole way. We summited at 11:24 and started our decent at 12:15. They summited soon after we did and were very friendly, even shared some fireball they had brought up with them. We took each other's pictures shortly before starting the decent. They indicated they were pretty worn out and wanted to decend as quickly as possible, hence I doubt they stayed for another 5-6 hours on the summit. Right before we started out decent Ryan said give me 5 minutes when Carlin indicated she was ready to go. Still can't believe such a tragedy happened and condolences to family and friends.

and some speculation on what may have happened...

That would be my guess regarding what happened. Prob tried to descend a different way. As crazy as it sounds, the knife edge is the easiest way up or down Capitol as far as I know. If there was an easier way, then that would be the way, no? As we know, Capitol's alternate routes basically all cliff out, but this is very hard to see from above. A few people have died this way on Capitol for sure.
Jon Beck

Trad climber
Oceanside
Aug 24, 2017 - 09:28am PT
Seems odd that both of them would fall, maybe he was spotting her? Based on their bios I think they were in over their heads. Maybe Paul Ryan could weigh in, he is quite the expert on the 14ers

edit

http://www.aspentimes.com/news/memorial-for-aspen-couple-who-died-on-capitol-peak-set-for-friday/


This article, and the one micro linked to makes it sound like they tried to skirt around the knife edge and fell separately

Initially, an official with the Sheriff's Office said the bodies were found below Capitol Peak's north face. However, upon further consultation with MRA volunteers, it appears the bodies were discovered closer to the area below the Knife Edge, a 100-foot stretch of narrow ridge with precipitous drops on either side, Jesse Steindler, a commander with the Sheriff's Office, said Wednesday.

"I think they possibly sought an alternate route that skirts around the Knife Edge on the north side (of the ridge)," Steindler said. "That makes the most sense."

It's unclear why they might have taken a different route, though the Knife Edge can be intimidating. It's also not clear how far the couple fell or from where, he said, though it's obvious they did not survive the fall, which was at least 200 feet.

Steindler said he thinks the fall may have occurred during the early evening hours Sunday. That's because the Sheriff's Office has received three reports from people camped at Capitol Lake on Sunday night who heard screams, rockfall and a man and woman shouting to each other, Steindler said.

One man said he walked down to the lake about 6:30 p.m. and heard a woman scream for a full minute, he said. That man thought the scream came from high on the mountain and, perhaps, the Knife Edge area, Steindler said.

Another man who was with the man who reported the minute-long scream said he heard a woman scream about 6:20 p.m. and again about 7:10 p.m., he said. He also thought it came from high on the mountain, though he did not say it lasted an entire minute, Steindler said.

A third man not with the other two said that around the same time, he heard rockfall, then a scream and then the sounds of a man and woman shouting to each other, Steindler said. A few minutes later, the man said he heard rockfall again and a male and female shouting to each other, he said. He thought the noises came from the summit area of the mountain, Steindler said.
crankster

Trad climber
No. Tahoe
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 28, 2017 - 05:50pm PT
Unfortunately, it's happened again. RIP and condolences to family and friends.
http://www.aspentimes.com/news/breaking-news-another-climber-dies-on-capitol-peak/

Not sure why climbers are lured off the standard ascent route when descending. Maybe they're intimidated by going back over the knife edge.
Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber
Old and Broken Down in Appalachia
Aug 29, 2017 - 08:18am PT
I always thought that hardest part of the climb was gaining that peaklet that marks the start of the knife's edge
paganmonkeyboy

climber
mars...it's near nevada...
Aug 29, 2017 - 09:13am PT
This is Horrible ! My heart goes out to all the family and friends...

Stay Safe out there !
tooth

Trad climber
B.C.
Sep 29, 2017 - 08:15pm PT
My buddy and I were on the mountain that day/night of the fifth death. I have pics and videos of the helicopter searching and loading the body.

We were finishing the 14ers ourselves that week, and couldn't figure out why so many people were making the same deadly choices. The best we could come up with is that the rock is so loose between the knife edge and the summit that it freaks out the inexperienced and they start to believe that the knife edge is just as loose and must be avoided at all costs. That day about 25 other people summited that we counted, and not a lot seemed to be comfortable moving over that terrain.
Messages 1 - 15 of total 15 in this topic
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