Helicopter crew finds collapsed tent and gear near Ice Mountain
Two Colorado college students remained missing on Wednesday after they left campus for a weekend trip up a nearly 14,000-foot peak and encountered a heavy snowstorm, police said. Kaden Matsuda, 19, of Ridgway, Colorado, and Jackson Donlon, 20, of New York, left the Colorado Mountain College Leadville campus on Friday and did not return.
The two told family and friends they planned to go up Ice Mountain, which requires technical climbing, according to the county sheriff’s office. They were expected back by Sunday, and college staff reported them missing Monday morning.
About 60 search and rescue volunteers, aided by helicopters, drones and dogs, are searching for them. Authorities have expanded the areas they are covering.
On Tuesday, a helicopter crew discovered a tent collapsed under the snow, with sleeping bags, a stove and clothing inside, near a lake northwest of Ice Mountain. The students were nowhere to be found.
Based on the tent’s location, officials said the two were aiming for the 13,597-foot West Apostle Mountain, which is not far from Ice Mountain.
Friends and family described both men as experienced hikers and climbers. “We are proud of these young men concerning how prepared they were, but sometimes mother nature throws you a curveball,” Chaffee County Sheriff Andy Rohrich said, referring to the storm that dropped over a foot of snow in the area on Saturday.
In a post on social media, Rohrich said Matsuda is studying to become a wildland firefighter and Donlon is studying to become a mountain guide.
Investigators did not find their climbing gear in their dorms, vehicle or tent, the sheriff’s office said, suggesting they had taken it with them for the ascent.
Authorities expect poor weather beginning Friday that could limit aerial searches for several days. Rohrich said the “window of opportunity” to find the duo is closing, adding that “hope is not lost by family and friends, nor us.”