Benjamin Russell Hebb loved music, fine teas and cooking — but he loved nothing more than rock climbing.
Hebb died doing just that, after a fall from a ledge on Longs Peak.
Rangers in Rocky Mountain National Park witnessed Hebb’s 800-foot fall about 8 a.m. Friday. He was climbing the North Chimney Route from Broadway Ledge to Mills Glacier.
Hebb, 26, of Broomfield was working on a second bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
He worked as a research assistant at Gill Lab at CU-Boulder, according to his Facebook page. He listed degrees in physics and in chemical and biological engineering.
Hebb grew up in Vermont. A family friend, Amanda Stryker Taylor, remembered Hebb as quiet and adventurous.
“Growing up, he was so quiet, he was always busy building something to go along with the next adventure,” Stryker Taylor said. “He built this incredible canoe that was both gorgeous and functional.”
His cousin, Liana Hebb, said in an e-mail that Hebb loved rock climbing and was not as interested in hiking.
“He was an avid, expert rock climber; it was his passion. He traveled the world to climb and died doing what he loved,” she wrote.
He is survived by an older sister and his parents, all of whom live in South Strafford, Vt.
They did not return requests for comment on Saturday.
Funeral services had not been set.
Yesenia Robles: yrobles@denverpost.com
This story has been corrected in this online archive.
