Two College Students Died in Colorado Climbing Accident After Anchor Failed

What was supposed to be a weekend climbing trip from Colorado Mountain College’s Leadville campus ended in a snow-filled basin on West Apostle Mountain, where Kaden Matsuda, 19, and Jackson Donlon, 20, fell a “substantial distance” after the rock they were anchored to likely gave way, authorities said Tuesday, dakotanewsnow.com reported.

According to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office and coroner’s office, an autopsy determined that the two students died instantly from multiple blunt force injuries. Their bodies were recovered last week about 100 miles southeast of Aspen.

Search continues for two missing students near Ice Mountain in Colorado

A Prepared Pair, an Unforeseeable Failure

“In most similar cases that have led to a devastating conclusion we find it easy to pick apart what was done wrong,” said Chaffee County Sheriff Andy Rohrich. “That was not the case with Kaden and Jackson.”

According to Rohrich, Donlon was beginning to rappel from an anchor point that had additional backup protections when the rock probably collapsed. Matsuda was secured to the same anchor, and both climbers plummeted a considerable distance, though the precise measurement was unknown. The heavy snowstorm that arrived later was not a direct factor in the deaths, the sheriff’s office said.

Instagram

From Ice Mountain to West Apostle

The pair had set out from the Leadville campus for a weekend trip originally aimed at Ice Mountain, a 13,958-foot peak. But they appeared to switch to the 13,597-foot West Apostle Mountain, where their bodies were found in a snow-filled basin. It was raining when they started hiking, and later a severe storm dumped up to 2 feet of snow on the high terrain.

Matsuda, of Ridgway, Colorado, was studying to be a wildland firefighter. Donlon, of Queensbury, New York, was an avid climber and skier studying outdoor recreation leadership. The two became fast friends at the small campus in Leadville, which bills itself as America’s highest city at 10,119 feet above sea level. The city sits roughly 100 miles west of Denver, has a population of about 2,600, and is surrounded by some of the tallest peaks in Colorado.

Two College Students Died in Colorado Climbing Accident After Anchor Failed — Photo: dakotanewsnow.com

A Campus Built Around the Mountains They Loved

Colorado Mountain College, which has campuses throughout the Colorado Rockies, is known for programs focusing on the state’s outdoor recreation economy, including mountaineering, ski patrol and guiding careers. The sheriff’s statement commended the students for their love of the outdoors and their preparation for the trip.

“While their lives were far too short, they spent their final moments together surrounded by the majestic beauty of Chaffee County’s high peaks that they loved,” Rohrich said. “There is also relief knowing neither of them suffered.”

The exact distance of the fall remains unknown, leaving one detail of the accident unresolved even as investigators cleared the pair of any error in judgment.