The man who was reported to have died on Capitol Peak last week has been recovered and ID’d after a painstaking effort by a group of volunteers with Mountain Rescue Aspen reports The Steamboat Today.
The long and arduous task took volunteers roughly 9 hours to complete due to the depth and complexity of the crevasse in which the climber fell. A deputy with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office said the rescue effort was extremely difficult and was likely the hardest ever completed by Mountain Rescue Aspen.
“In talking with the guys from Mountain Rescue Aspen, it was probably one of the most difficult recoveries in the last couple of decades.” – Michael Buglione, Sheriff’s Deputy For Pitkin County (*Quote courtesy of Steamboat Today)
The victim has since been identified as 35 year-old Jeremy Shull of Parker, CO. Shull was reportedly climbing between “K2” and Capitol Peak’s infamous “Knife Edge” when the fall occurred. He was not yet on the Knife Edge as had been previously reported. Later that day, a member with Mountain Rescue Aspen confirmed the location of the body. From first glance, the MRA volunteer knew Shull was dead.
[protected-iframe id=”bc968a178e2b1c2556fed5e3cb51a47f-65244901-84409940″ info=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Finclinejill%2Fposts%2F10214248716521167&width=500″ width=”500″ height=”794″ frameborder=”0″ style=”border:none;overflow:hidden” scrolling=”no”]
Unfortunately, all rescue attempts were slowed by uncooperative weather. Once the weather finally cleared, multiple attempts using a helicopter proved unsuccessful, leading to what would become a multi-person, up-haul extraction. Once out of the crevasse, the body was flown out of the area via helicopter.
Body of man who fell from Aspen's Capitol Peak recovered, man ID'd as Parker father, experienced climber https://t.co/UDzB5Cnsk8 pic.twitter.com/4OoyQXqsfl
— Steamboat Pilot & Today (@steamboatpilot) August 10, 2017
An obituary for Shull in the Denver Post reads as follows: “Jeremy Shull, 35, of Parker, CO, fell into the Arms of Jesus doing what he loved climbing Capitol Peak in Aspen, CO. Loving Husband of Jamie. Proud Father of 2-month old Jack.”
Full Mountain Rescue Aspen Statement:
Capitol Peak Body Recovery
Pitkin County, Colorado – August 9, 2017- At 6:00 AM The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office commenced the recovery of 35 year old Jeremy Shull of Parker Colorado. Shull fell on Sunday while ascending the 14,130’ Capitol Peak, which is located approximately fourteen miles west of Aspen. He fell off the east side of an area near the K2 Peak.
The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the fall at approximately 8:20 AM on Sunday August 6, 2017. Shull was climbing with three of his friends on Sunday when another climbing team in front of Shull heard Shull fall while his three friends were out of sight of Shull. A person in a climbing team behind Shull’s team was able to call 911 from that location and report the fall. The Sheriff’s Office and the all volunteer team of Mountain Rescue Aspen (MRA) was able to locate Shull approximately 200’ down from where he fell. A member of MRA was able to climb down to the top of the crevasse where Shull landed and visually confirm that Shull did not survive the fall based on the condition of the body. Due to forecasted, dangerous weather conditions in the vicinity of Capitol Peak , recovery efforts were delayed until today. The Shull family was notified of the recovery and understood that rescuer safety is paramount. The recovery mission lasted approximately nine hours with all rescuers out of the field safely by 3:00 PM. Today’s recovery efforts included members of MRA and a Bell 205++ helicopter with a team of three from Colorado Department of Fire Prevention and Control out of Montrose, Colorado.
The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office would like thank the Colorado Department of Fire Prevention and Control for today’s recovery and acknowledge the hard work the all volunteer Mountain Rescue Aspen, which has conducted ten search and rescue missions in the last ten days.
*Our deepest condolences go out the victim’s friends and family.
Find the entire Steamboat Today article here: Climber’s body removed from Capitol Peak after ‘difficult’ recovery, man ID’d
