Another climber dies on Capitol Peak near Aspen

A 21-year-old mountain climber died Sunday on Capitol Peak above Aspen, the fifth in two months — apparently after attempting a precarious shortcut descent that leads to a 600-foot cliff.

Pitkin County authorities declined to identify the man, pending notification of his family. Sheriff’s Sgt. Jesse Steindler said the man fell at almost exactly the same point as an Aspen couple who died one week ago. Steindler lamented an increasing flow of people compelled to bag “fourteeners” — peaks that exceed 14,000 feet elevation — a heavily promoted recreational pursuit that draws inexperienced hikers to Colorado’s high country.

“This was somebody taking a shortcut off the mountain. And there are no shortcuts coming off that mountain. There is only one way,” Steindler said.

“The problem with any shortcut is that they all end up at the top of a 600-foot cliff,” he said. “You cannot see it from the top of the mountain looking down. You cannot see how dangerous it is.”

Pitkin County’s volunteer search-and-rescue crew climbed up Sunday afternoon to recover the man’s body beneath Capitol’s 14,131-feet summit.

They found it at the base of that steep North Face near Capitol Lake, where the volunteers last week found the bodies of Ryan Marcil, 26, and Carlin Brightwell, 27.

A 100-footlong Knife Edge ridge with steep drops on either side runs below the summit of Capitol Peak. Climbers sometimes attempt shorter descents to reach this Knife Edge, instead of the standard route that requires more steep ascending to reach the ridge.

Jake Lord, 25, died after falling nearly 300 feet July 15 on a different part of the mountain. On Aug. 6, Jeremy Shull died after falling near the Knife Edge.

These unprecedented deaths on Capitol Peak have gripped the climbing community, especially after a memorial service Friday.

“Some of these mountains should not be climbed by people who do not have the experience to climb the steep high mountains. The fourteeners of the Elk Mountains, with lots of loose rock, are just extremely dangerous,” Steindler said.

“People should be in the mountains enjoying them, not turning it into some kind of competition where people are ‘bagging’ fourteeners.”