Colorado man dies after falling hundreds of feet while climbing Citadel Peak

A rescue official called the man’s fall from a ridge a ‘tragic accident’

A man is dead after falling hundreds of feet while climbing on Colorado’s Citadel Peak, according to rescue officials.

The man, who was climbing with a 29-year-old woman, fell from a ridge on New Year’s Day, rescue officials told CBS Colorado. The area is located along the Continental Divide.

The man’s climbing partner reported his fall around 2 p.m. on Thursday. There was warm, favorable weather at the time, CBS Colorado reports.

It’s unclear how the man fell, but Steve Wilson of the Alpine Rescue Group, which responded to the scene, called it a “tragic accident.”

"They were up above all of the snow. They were in the rocks," Wilson told CBS Colorado. "Tragic accident as far as we can see."

The man and woman appeared to be ‘prepared’ and ‘experienced,’ a rescue official said (AFP via Getty Images)

The man’s name has not been released. The pair appeared to have been experienced climbers, Wilson told the outlet.

"They seemed prepared, they seemed equipped. They seemed experienced. Accidents happen. That's an unfortunate way to end the year. A tragic end,” he said.

"They're doing what they love. They’re enjoying the back country of Colorado, which is an amazing, beautiful place,” he added.

Helicopters initially tried to fly to the scene, but reportedly had trouble getting close due to high winds. They also had difficulty landing.

"Obviously, it's a sharp peak. They can't land right where our subjects are. And as we're trying to find good places to land close enough to be useful, the winds just weren't cooperating at the time. So they just had to abort," Wilson told CBS Colorado.

Then, the Colorado National Guard deployed a Black Hawk helicopter to the area. Alpine Rescue Team members were picked up by the helicopter, while others moved toward the man and woman on foot, CBS Colorado reports.

Rescuers were then lowered down to where the man had fallen and to where the woman was stranded. By 8 p.m., officials had recovered the man’s body and rescued the woman, according to CBS Colorado.

The woman was stuck on the ridge in a “precarious position of her own,” Wilson noted.

"I don't think she was in danger of falling, but it would have been - it was very difficult to access her. It would have been very difficult to climb herself down," he told the outlet.

The Independent has contacted the Alpine Rescue Team for more information.

The man fell the same day another Colorado hiker was found dead from a suspected mountain lion attack.

The woman was found on Thursday on the Crosier Mountain trail, with “wounds consistent with a mountain lion attack,” Kara Van Hoose of Colorado Parks and Wildlife told the Associated Press.

Investigators located and killed two nearby mountain lions, one of which was at the scene. Officials will now conduct a necropsy to see if either of the animals attacked the hiker.