A free-solo climber died after falling 500 feet from a ridge in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park
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- A 26-year-old died after falling 500 feet while free-solo climbing in Colorado, park officials said.
- She fell from a ridge in Rocky Mountain National Park. It's the second reported death in the park this month.
- Free-solo climbing is a dangerous form of rock climbing in which the climber uses no ropes.
A 26-year-old woman from Boulder, Colorado, died after falling approximately 500 feet from a ridge in Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday, the park said.
The woman's 27-year-old climbing partner, who was not named, alerted park rangers via cell phone that the woman had fallen while free-solo climbing, the National Park Service said in a press release on Monday.
Free-solo climbing is a dangerous form of rock climbing in which the climber uses no protection other than their shoes and chalk.
It can lead to a major injury, or even loss of life, with just a simple slip.
That appears to have been the case with the woman, who plummeted to her death from the Four Aces of Blitzen Ridge on Ypsilon Mountain, according to the park service.
The woman's name, which has not been publicized, will be released after her next of kin has been notified, the park service said.
Early on Monday, a search-and-rescue team hiked to an area above Ypsilon Lake to prepare a helicopter long-line recovery of the victim.
Her body was then flown to a helistop in another area of the park before being transferred to the Larimer County coroner's office for examination, the park service said. The office will determine the cause of death.
The park service did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Search-and-rescue team members reached the male climbing partner on Sunday night but needed the help of a Colorado Air National Guard helicopter to lift him from the location via a hoist operation, the park service said.
This is the second fatality in Rocky Mountain National Park this month.
The park service said that on July 2 a 25-year-old man died after falling and being pulled underwater at West Creek Falls.