{"id":7986,"date":"2026-10-30T00:03:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T00:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/replyguru.online\/?p=7986"},"modified":"2026-10-30T00:03:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T00:03:18","slug":"two-colorado-climbers-found-dead-near-three-apostles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/replyguru.online\/?p=7986","title":{"rendered":"Two Colorado Climbers Found Dead Near Three Apostles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Published October 29, 2026 05:08PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
On October 28, rescuers found the bodies of two missing Colorado Mountain College students in a basin on West Apostle Mountain, a remote peak in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness, northwest of Buena Vista.<\/p>\n
Kaden Matsuda, 19, and Jackson Donlon, 20, had planned to climb nearby 13,960-foot Ice Mountain but were reported missing on October 26, according to the Chaffee County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
Matsuda and Donlon left Colorado Mountain College\u2019s Leadville campus on October 23, planning to return on October 24 or 25, depending on conditions. Friends told investigators the pair had shared a map identifying Ice Mountain as their intended destination.<\/p>\n
Ice Mountain, West Apostle, and North Apostle make up the Three Apostles, a rugged trio of 13ers in the Sawatch Range. Less famous than Colorado\u2019s 14ers, the peaks attract climbers seeking more challenging terrain and solitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the allure of doing peaks that aren\u2019t 14,000 feet. They\u2019re less popular, they\u2019re more remote, and they\u2019re more technical,\u201d Dillon Geiger, owner and chief guide at Buena Vista-based Ark Valley Mountain Guides, said.<\/p>\n
Geiger, an American Mountain Guides Association-credentialed guide with more than a decade of alpine guiding and climbing instruction experience, works throughout the Sawatch Range. He described the Three Apostles as unusually rugged for the area, with steep gullies, loose rock and couloirs, including Ice Mountain\u2019s Refrigerator Couloir, a well-known backcountry ski descent.<\/p>\n
Why Climbers Seek Out the Three Apostles<\/h2>\nSnow blankets the rugged mountains of Colorado\u2019s Sawatch Range, where two Colorado Mountain College students were found dead near West Apostle Mountain on October 28. <\/span> (Photo: Chaffee County Sheriff\u2019s Office)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Colorado\u2019s 14ers attract hikers seeking the state\u2019s famous 14,000-foot summits, many with relatively accessible, nontechnical routes, according to Geiger. But elevation doesn\u2019t necessarily determine difficulty, he said. The Three Apostles, though shorter than the 14ers, offer steep, rocky terrain and require more advanced mountaineering skills.<\/p>\n
According to mountaineering database 14ers.com, Ice Mountain\u2019s standard northeast-ridge route involves scrambling, requiring climbers to use their hands to navigate steep, sometimes exposed rock. The website also warns of substantial rockfall risk and challenging route-finding, including bushwhacking.<\/p>\n
Even in Colorado\u2019s popular Sawatch Range, Geiger says that climbers visiting the Three Apostles in late October might spend an entire day without encountering another person.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re certainly some of the most remote sections of the Sawatch Mountains. It\u2019s an extremely remote area, and this time of year, it wouldn\u2019t be uncommon to not come across anyone else,\u201d Geiger said.<\/p>\n
While experienced mountaineers can sometimes complete these climbs in a day in favorable summer conditions, backpacking into the basin and attempting a summit from camp isn\u2019t uncommon.<\/p>\n
But the mountains become a different undertaking in winter conditions.<\/p>\n
Early Snow and Unstable Rock<\/h2>\n
The National Weather Service forecast several inches of snow at higher elevations in the eastern Sawatch Mountains on October 24, the day after the students set out. In Colorado\u2019s high country, changing weather can quickly make an already difficult climb all the more dangerous.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you step into technical terrain and the weather changes, especially winter weather conditions, it gets bad fast,\u201d Geiger said.<\/p>\n
Fresh snow can conceal loose rocks that can easily slip beneath a climber\u2019s feet, he explained. Repeated freezing and thawing can further destabilize rock, increasing rockfall hazards and complicating route-finding.<\/p>\n
A Multi-Day Search in Heavy Snow<\/h2>\n
Both students were preparing for careers in the outdoors. Matsuda was studying to become a wildland firefighter, while Donlon was training to become a mountain guide, Sheriff Andy Rohrich said in an October 27 Facebook update.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are devastated by the loss of Kaden Matsuda and Jackson Donlon, two members of our Colorado Mountain College community,\u201d the college said in a statement provided to KKTV.<\/p>\n
After college staff reported the pair missing on October 26, deputies found Matsuda\u2019s vehicle near the Mount Huron trailhead outside Winfield, according to the Chaffee County Sheriff\u2019s Office. Searchers later discovered their collapsed tent near Lake Ann. Investigators also found no climbing equipment in the students\u2019 tent, vehicle, or dorm rooms, which the sheriff\u2019s office said suggested they had taken it on their climb, officials wrote.<\/p>\n
Heavy snow and ice complicated the search. Ice Mountain received up to two feet of snow, with some piles building up to four feet in places. Roughly 60 search-and-rescue volunteers participated in the operation, supported by helicopters, drones, and search dogs, according to the Chaffee County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
\u201cFoul play is not suspected, and we will not offer theories as to what may have happened until an autopsy can be completed,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s office said in its October 28 statement. The agency is working with the Chaffee County Coroner\u2019s Office to investigate the deaths.<\/p>\n
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