A 50-year-old woman died on June 25 when she fell 400 feet off Sawtooth Ridge between Mount Evans and Mount Bierstadt.
The victim has been identified as Mary Elizabeth Bowles of Golden. The Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call Saturday afternoon from someone who witnessed the woman fall.
“(A group was) hiking up there, and I guess one gal got on the snow field, started sliding, went over the edge and fell about 400 feet,” said Sheriff Don Krueger.
Steve Wilson, spokesman for the Alpine Rescue Team, said the team was notified of the accident around noon, flew into the area in helicopters and hiked in to retrieve the body.
“It was a steep area where there was a combination of snow and rocks, and it seems likely that she stumbled or fell and was unable to stop herself before gravity accelerated her,” Wilson said.
Krueger said there haven’t been any fatalities in that area in recent years.
“We had one summer several years ago … that once a week for at least three weeks we were up there,” Krueger said. “Four of them were rescues, and four of them were body recoveries.”
 We haven’t had one there in a while, but you just never know. With all the snow up there, it is just dangerous. It is inherently dangerous to be up on a mountain that high.”