Climber dies on tallest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park

The climber was found dead by search and rescue teams on the upper face of Longs Peak, an iconic 14,259-foot summit in the national park in Colorado.Show Caption

A climber has died on the tallest peak in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.The Rocky Mountain National Park search and rescue teams found the climber on the upper east face of Longs Peak on Sunday, July 5, according to reporting by The Coloradoan, part of the USA TODAY Network.The 14,259-foot peak is an iconic destination for so-called "peak baggers." Longs Peak is the tallest summit in the national park and affords stunning views but it is also known to see rapid, potentially disastrous changes in weather.According to reporting by The Coloradoan, search and rescue teams deployed to the park following reports in the early afternoon of an incident involving a hiker on Kiener’s Route, a popular path taken to summit Longs Peak. The person involved was found dead.USA TODAY has reached out to National Park officials for more information about the circumstances surrounding the climber’s death. Their identity has not been released.The Coloradan has reported that more than 70 people have died climbing Longs Peak since the park's inception in 1915. There were at least six deaths alone in 2022, the newspaper reported.Kiener’s Route is a popular path taken to summit Longs Peak because it is considered the easiest way to the summit, according to the American Alpine Institute. It is considered to involve intermediate alpine climbing skills and is expected to take between one and two days. Swiss-born mountaineer Walter Kiener and fellow climber Agnes Vaille first summited Longs Peak along Kiener’s Route in 1925.The triumph of their pioneering climb, however, was overshadowed by the pair’s disastrous descent. Vaille fell down a steep face, according to reporting by the Loveland Reporter-Herald. Kiener left her to get a rescue party and she died of exposure. Kiener himself lost several fingers and most of his toes to frostbite. Contributing: Sady Swanson, the Coloradoan