|
Skier killed on Taylor Glacier
By John Cordsen of the Estes Park Trail Gazette
Published Friday, October 3, 2008
A lone skier was killed on Taylor Glacier in Rocky Mountain National Park Tuesday. Matthieu Chesaux, 40, of Boulder was skiing alone on the glacier located approximately 5.2 miles from the Bear Lake Trailhead. Friends of the victim contacted Park officials Tuesday evening to report him overdue. The friends discovered the victims body Wednesday morning, Oct. 1. Rangers were soon on the scene.
According to James A. Wilkerson IV, MD, Larimer County Deputy Coroner/Medical Examiner, Chesaux died of massive trauma from multiple blunt force injuries. His body was recovered and flown out late Wednesday afternoon and turned over to the Larimer County coroner’s office.
 Looking down the Taylor Glacier in August of 2008.
The glacier is located beyond the trail system in the Park on the north-facing cirque below Taylor Peak. It has a 2,600 foot elevation gain with difficult terrain, loose rock, snow and ice. Officials say its steepest part is about 60 degrees, twice as steep as the average black-diamond run, and the glacier is often pocked with exposed rocks this time of year.
This is the second death to occur in the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park this year that involved a fall. In June, a 66-year-old Fort Collins man hiking alone died in a fall west of Emerald Lake. The man suffered multiple injuries, including a broken neck, after falling approximately 500 feet down a steep snow slope.
The victim was hiking/mountaineering the steep slope on the western edge of Emerald Lake on June 7 when he fell. He was wearing crampons and a helmet at the time of the accident. Emerald Lake is approximately 2.5 miles from the Bear Lake Trailhead. It is a popular year-round location for hikers and climbers. It sits at the end of a route that includes Nymph and Dream Lakes with Flattop Mountain and Hallett Peak to the west.
 Skiers climbing up the Taylor Glacier with crampons in September of 2008. Photo courtesy of Brian Stevenson.
 |
