A 32-year-old man from Montrose died last week on Mount Sneffels while hiking the 14,555-foot peak near Ouray in southwestern Colorado, officials said Monday.
Bret Bachman-Goldstein was found June 11, though investigators believe he died the previous day, Ouray County Coroner Glenn Boyd said.
Authorities have released few details about the circumstances of Bachman-Goldstein’s death or where on the mountain he was found. Mount Sneffels, the highest peak in the Sneffels Range of the San Juan Mountains, has two Class 3 routes to its summit that involve loose rock, hands-on scrambling and exposure.
Boyd declined to provide additional details, citing the ongoing investigation. The cause and manner of death remain pending autopsy and toxicology results.
Search and rescue crews from the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team, the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office and the coroner’s office assisted in recovering Bachman-Goldstein’s body, Boyd said.
In 2021, a climber died after summiting Mount Sneffels and beginning his descent, falling roughly 1,000 feet from the Southwest Ridge route.
Ouray Mountain Rescue Team Capt. Ruth Stewart told the Ouray Plaindealer at the time that the climber was experienced and had been reported overdue by his family. His body was spotted from a plane hours after a search-and-rescue mission began.