Private funeral services will be held today for Craig Luebben, an accomplished mountain guide from Golden who died climbing a glacier last week in Washington state.
Luebben, 49, was killed Aug. 9 while climbing in North Cascades National Park. He is survived by his wife, Silvia, and daughter Giulia.
“This sport that we love is dangerous,” said Golden resident George Lowe, who has climbed with Luebben. “Craig minimized that risk by how he approached it. He’s very analytical and very safe. I was really shocked that he had been killed. I thought Craig would grow old as a climber.”
Luebben was an author of seven books on climbing, an American Mountain Guides Association board member and a certified professional mountain guide, according to a blog by climbing expert Stewart Green. He had climbed mountains and cliffs around the world.
According to an account in Green’s blog, Luebben was climbing 8,120-foot Mount Torment in Washington at 6:30 a.m. with experienced climber Willie Benegas to train for a certification test.
The pair was climbing the Forbidden Traverse on the southeast face of the mountain over Taboo Glacier, Green’s blog said.
At a bergshrund, a crevasse that forms where a glacier separates from stationary ice, Luebben was leading while Benegas was belaying.
Luebben tried to bypass ice hanging above the bergshrund by climbing rock on the right. He intended to then traverse to the left onto the ice, Green’s blog says.
While Luebben was stepping from the rock to the ice, a block of ice about 100 feet long, 20 feet wide and 10 feet thick calved off with Luebben on top, he said. He fell 30 feet before the rope caught him. He was hanging from the rope when he was pummeled by chunks of ice that had broken off from the initial ice block, Green’s blog says.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
