Colorado students found dead in Rocky Mountains after snowstorm

Kaden Matsuda and Jackson Donlon are dead.

Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office officials confirmed the findings on Wednesday afternoon. The bodies were located in a basin on West Apostle Mountain. The site sits about 100 miles southeast of Aspen. A heavy snowstorm hit the region last weekend while the two students were out on the trail.

Matsuda, 19, is from Ridgway. Donlon, 20, is from New York. Both were students at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville. They left campus on Friday. They told family members they intended to hike Ice Mountain. That peak is nearly 14,000 feet high and requires technical climbing skills. Staff reported the pair missing on Monday morning after they did not return by Sunday.

Sheriff Andy Rohrich said authorities are investigating the causes of death. He stated that foul play is not suspected. The office will not offer theories until autopsies are complete. Rohrich noted that the team found the students before another storm was expected to arrive. He said the discovery allows the families to begin the closure process.

Approximately 60 search and rescue volunteers joined the effort. They used helicopters, drones, and dogs to comb the area. A helicopter crew found a collapsed tent near a lake on Tuesday. Inside the snow-covered tent were sleeping bags, a stove, and clothing. The students were not in the tent. Officials used the tent location to narrow their search to West Apostle Mountain, which stands at 13,597 feet. Evidence in the tent, including trash indicating a meal was eaten, suggested the hikers prepared for a technical climb before leaving. Their climbing gear was missing from their dorms and vehicle.

Family and friends described both men as experienced climbers. Rohrich added that Matsuda was studying to be a wildland firefighter. Donlon was training to become a mountain guide. Weather forecasts had limited aerial search options due to poor conditions expected to begin Friday.