Ice Mountain, Colorado: two college hikers found dead after search

Two Colorado Mountain College students who set out to climb Ice Mountain in Colorado's Chaffee County were found dead on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, after a search that lasted several days. The Chaffee County Sheriff's Office said Kaden Matsuda, 19, of Ridgway, Colorado, and Jackson Donlon, 20, of Queensbury, New York, were found at about 3:30 pm in a basin of West Apostle Mountain. The sheriff's office said the cause of death will be decided by an autopsy and that foul play is not suspected.

Ice Mountain, Colorado, became one of the most searched terms in the United States this week as people followed the search for the two missing students. The outcome is a reminder that even young, fit people who are training for outdoor careers can be caught out by mountain conditions that change quickly, especially when an early-season snowfall turns rock into ice.

A "technical climb" is a route where walking is not enough: climbers have to use their hands, and often ropes, helmets and other gear, to move over steep rock, snow or ice. On such routes a slip can be far more serious than on a marked hiking trail. The sheriff's office warning that only very experienced people should attempt Ice Mountain was issued for exactly this reason.

The timeline also shows how long a gap can open between a trip going wrong and a search starting. The students left on a Friday, snow fell on the Saturday, and the alarm was raised on the Monday, when they had not come back. Search teams then had to work across snow-covered, icy ground, which slowed the effort even with aircraft and infrared cameras, which detect body heat.

For young readers in India who trek or climb, the case carries a plain lesson that matches the official warning: fitness alone does not make a technical route safe. The points this case brings out are the ones the timeline shows: conditions on the mountain changed with the snowfall of 24 October, the route itself demanded climbing experience, and no alarm could be raised until the students were overdue. Before a high or technical trek, check the latest weather, leave your exact route and return time with someone at home, and use a trained guide where the route needs one.

Short-term: The families of the two students, their classmates at Colorado Mountain College and the search crews are dealing with the loss. The cause of death will be known only after the autopsies, and the sheriff's office has said it will not share theories before then.

Long-term: Cases like this tend to renew attention on trip planning, check-in systems and the gap between hiking and technical climbing, particularly for students and other young people who head into the mountains on short weekend trips.

Who is affected: The students' families and friends, the Colorado Mountain College community, search and rescue volunteers in Chaffee County and neighbouring counties, and young hikers and climbers who plan trips into high mountains in the early winter season.

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