A 42-year-old man died Monday after falling from Boulder’s Second Flatiron, sheriff’s officials said.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, was reported missing around 9 p.m. Monday after he failed to return from a hike on the Flatirons, according to a news release from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
Friends of the 42-year-old hiker told sheriff’s officials he was supposed to return home around dark. When he didn’t, they searched the trail area and found the man’s body on a rock ledge of the Second Flatiron.
Boulder County sheriff’s officials said deputies, Boulder Parks and Open Space rangers, a Rocky Mountain Rescue group, an American Medical Response ambulance, the Boulder Emergency Squad, and Boulder County coroner officials responded Monday night to recover the body.
Sheriff’s officials are investigating what happened on the mountain and said the man will be identified by the Boulder County Coroner’s Office.
The First and Second Flatiron trail is a three-mile out-and-back trail that’s generally considered challenging, according to AllTrails.
The trail takes hikers across a large meadow and then up to a gap between the First and Second Flatiron, according to AllTrails. Although it’s a relatively short hike, it’s full of steep, slippery sections and rock scramble areas.
Recent hikers said on AllTrails that packed ice along the trail made the descent slippery and that spiked shoes were needed.
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