Climbing
Two climbers who have been missing since Wednesday on the 14,000-foot Maroon Bells in Colorado were found on Friday. One man was injured and the other was deceased. Both men are from the Vail area in Colorado.
Pitkin Country Sheriff’s Office and Mountain Rescue Aspen found David Richardson, 32, at 11:15am on Friday in the Bell Chord area on the east face of the mountain. David was injured with at least one broken bone. The other climber, Jarod Weagherall, 37, was found dead in the Rock Glacier area of North Maroon Peak at 12:45pm on Friday.
“The area in which they were found is an area where other people have, unfortunately, also been found deceased”and injured.” – Deputy Alex Burchetta
Rescuers had been searching for the two climbers since Wednesday after being notified of there failure to return home by a friend.
“It is late in the season, and we did have six to seven inches of snow last night. Luckily we got a break in the weather and were able to deploy helicopters … it’s a very technical area to climb and requires extensive knowledge of climbing practices.” – Deputy Alex Burchetta
The Maroon Bells are some of the most iconic, photogenic peaks in Colorado. They’ve been called “The Deadly Bells” since 8 people died on the twin peaks in 5 separate accidents in 1965.
