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1 climber dies, 2 others injured on Colorado 14er traverse

TELLURIDE, Colo. (AP) – One climber has died and two others are injured after being struck by falling rocks in the southwest Colorado mountains.

San Miguel County authorities say 59-year-old Peter Topp of Colorado Springs died Monday before two helicopters could reach the climbers. He was one of five people traversing the ridge between Mount Wilson and El Diente, both of which are higher than 14,000 feet.

A man with possible head and abdominal injuries and a woman with a hip injury were taken to the hospital in Telluride and then flown to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction. Their names weren’t released and their conditions weren’t known.



San Miguel County Coroner Robert Dempsey says Topp was a retired Army colonel who graduated from West Point in 1972.


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