Hiker found dead after he falls down Colorado peak, officials say
The body of a hiker was found after he fell on his descent from Blanca Peak in Colorado.
Justin Seagren’s body was spotted by a Fight For Life helicopter on Sept. 7 and was recovered the following day, according to a news release from Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue.
After he was spotted the team began preparing to retrieve the body and ”began moving all the technical gear to the bottom of the saddle between Ellingwood and Blanca,” officials said.
On the morning of Sept. 8, search and rescue teams began to devise a plan, officials said.
After seeing the difficulty of the terrain, all teams decided only a highly skilled team would be on-site, officials said.
Two teams rappelled down to the location, retrieved his body and lifted it 300 feet to the ridgeline below the summit of Blanca, according to the news release.
Canon City Helitack then flew in with a long attachment at the bottom of the helicopter and took the fallen hiker out of the area.
In a video posted to Instagram, Segren’s siblings, Jordan and Laurel Segren said ”anyone following him would know he was on an over year long road trip exploring America and the different national parks, going on these amazing hikes and sending us pictures.”
Segren’s funeral will be Saturday, Sept. 17 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, according to the video.
“AVSAR would like to extend their most sincere condolences to everyone who loved and knew Justin. We cannot thank the reporting parties enough who stayed on scene for several hours after the accident, triggered their SOS immediately, and assisted the helicopter in locating him,” Alamosa Volunteer Search and Rescue said in their news release.
Blanca Peak is Colorado’s fourth highest peak at 14,351 feet, according to the Spanish Peaks Country website. It is located at the southern end of the Sangre De Cristo Range about 15 miles from Dunes National Park and Preserve.
Alamosa is about 250 miles south of Denver.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Hiker found dead after he falls down Colorado peak, officials say."