BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say slippery conditions from rain and snow likely caused a rock climber to fall to his death from the First Flatiron in Boulder.
Carrie Haverfield, a spokeswoman for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, says investigators believe deteriorating weather conditions caused 31-year-old Erik Kleiber to fall about 430 feet from the iron-shaped rock formation Thursday.
The Daily Camera reports it does not appear that the Boulder man was using any climbing equipment.
Kleiber grew up in Iowa City, Iowa, and moved to Boulder in 2015. His death marks the second fatal fall from the formation this year after a 17-year-old died while free-soloing the First Flatiron in August. Before that, no one had died due to an accidental fall on the Flatirons since 2008.