One hiker was found injured and another found dead Friday after a two-day search near the Maroon Bells.
Search crews were sent to the area, southwest of Aspen, on Thursday after two overdue hikers from Vail had not been heard from since the day before, the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office said Friday morning.
Jarod Wetherell, 37, was identified as the deceased climber. David Richardson, 32, was flown to Aspen Valley Hospital about 2 p.m. with unspecified injuries.
Richardson was found about 11:30 a.m. in the Bell Chord area on the east aspect of North Maroon peak, the sheriff’s office said. Wetherell’s body was found about 12:45 p.m. and removed from the wilderness area shortly thereafter.
A girlfriend of one of the men called authorities from the Vail area about 8 p.m. Wednesday to report that the two men sent her a photo from a peak about noon, but that she had not heard from them since.
A vehicle belonging to the hikers was located at a trailhead about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“Members from Mountain Rescue Aspen began to mobilize, and on Thursday three teams of (rescuers) entered the field on foot in search of the climbers,” the sheriff’s office said.
Adverse weather in the area hampered the air search, but a break Friday gave rescuers a window in which to launch a Colorado National Guard helicopter.
Rescuers stopped searching about 9:15 p.m. Thursday and resumed their operations Friday morning.
The area had been under a winter-storm advisory overnight Thursday.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or
