UPDATE: This story was updated at 8:49 a.m. on Friday, July 14, 2023, with the climber’s name from the Larimer County Coroner’s Office.
A 26-year-old Boulder woman died Sunday after she fell 500 feet during a free-solo climb on the Four Aces of Blitzen Ridge in Rocky Mountain National Park, park officials said.
The woman’s climbing partner, who was uninjured and called for help on his cellphone, was hoisted off the ridge by a Colorado Air National Guard helicopter Sunday night.
A Rocky Mountain National Park search-and-rescue team hiked to the area above Ypsilon Lake to help with recovery of the body Monday morning, the park said in a news release.
The Larimer County Coroner’s Office identified the woman Friday as Bailee Mulholland.
Free-soloing is a form of climbing without ropes.
Ypsilon Mountain is a 13,500-foot tall mountain in the Mummy Range located on the north side of the park. Blitzen Ridge is an exposed technical climb that brings climbers to the top of the mountain, according to the Mountain Project.
In another incident, a climber fell 100 feet Monday and was seriously injured while free-soloing the Direct East Face route on the First Flatiron in Boulder.
The 22-year-old from Boulder was near the top of the route when they fell and slid about 100 feet down the face, landing on a ledge, according to Boulder County officials. The climber, who wasn’t identified, was unable to move.
Their climbing partner called 911 for help, while another pair of climbers in the area climbed to the injured climber and provided first aid, according to a news release. Paramedics with the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group rappelled down to the injured climber and helped carry the climber in a full-body vacuum splint to the base of the First Flatiron and then the trailhead. The climber was taken to a hospital.