Texas man dies after falling down a mountain

A 60-year-old Texas man died in a climbing accident while descending a mountain near Leavenworth, Washington, on Thursday, according to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.

Robert Jake Colburn, of Dallas, Texas, was last seen on Thursday at 3 p.m. as he was descending Aasgard Pass on his way back to camp, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Colburn’s son called 911 at 11 p.m. when his father had not returned to camp, according to the sheriff’s office.

On Sunday, a four-person team of Chelan County Mountain Rescue personnel was flown onto Aasgard Pass by a sheriff’s office helicopter, the statement said. The team found Colburn’s body at approximately 7,300 feet at 1:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office said. The body was hoisted by helicopter and removed from the mountain.

Rescue personnel believe Colburn slipped and fell several hundred feet to his death while descending Aasgard Pass, the release said.

Aasgard Pass is located about 120 miles east of Seattle in the Cascade Mountains. It is part of Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. The pass is at 7,841 feet and is accessible by an unmaintained US Forest Service foot trail.

At one point, the trail goes up 2,200 feet in less than a mile, according to the Washington Trails Association, which notes the trail is not for inexperienced hikers. The association says hikers need route-finding experience, agility, and excellent balance, and “achieving the pass is a thigh-burning, chest-bursting, eye-popping endeavor.”