Police say a woman fell about 40 feet to her death at an indoor climbing gym in northern Colorado.
Fort Collins police spokesman Brandon Barnes told The Coloradoan the woman fell at Ascent Studio Climbing & Fitness on Saturday, and it appears she became unattached from the auto-belay system. Investigators did not find any faulty equipment.
The Larimer County coroner’s office has not released the climber’s name.
The climbing gym in Fort Collins released a statement Tuesday calling the fall a “tragic event” and expressing sympathy for the climber’s friends and family. It also said the auto-belay systems that keeps climbers from falling will not be used at least until a full investigation is completed.
The Coloradoan reported fatal accidents at indoor climbing gyms are extremely rare, with only a handful in the United States in the last decade. In 2014, a man died while climbing indoors at the Boulder Rock Club.
A Utah state attorney angry about being awakened from a nap has apologized for sending an expletive-laden email to an LGBT politician campaigning to be the first Asian American person elected to the Salt Lake City council.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Steven Wuthrich told Darin Mano he hated him and his family, then threatened to “do everything in my power to see you will never get elected to any office higher than [a] dog catcher.”
He sent the email after Mano knocked on his door Saturday looking for someone else living there who is a registered voter, either Wuthrich’s wife or roommate, Mano told the Salt Lake Tribune.
Mano was appointed to the City Council and is now campaigning to be the first Asian American officially elected. Mano is also a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a father of four. He told Fox13-KSTU he was shocked and disturbed by Wuthrich’s message.
“It was hard not to wonder why that email was so particularly aggressive,” said Mano.
Wuthrich apologized in a statement Tuesday, saying he regrets the “ferocity and language” of the email and does not wish any harm to Mano or his family.
The Utah attorney general’s office has said officials take the situation seriously and are determining next steps.
A fatal fall from a cliff in northern Wyoming appears to have been an accident, sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.
Sheridan County sheriff’s officials identified the victim as Calli Aust, 28, of Sheridan. She fell from Steamboat Point about 20 miles west of Sheridan.
Aust and her husband hiked to see the sunrise Tuesday from the clifftop, which is accessible by a steep trail less than a mile long, sheriff’s officials said.
Aust fell over 200 feet and landed at the base of the cliff where she was found by her husband, who had called for help, and rescue crews.
Sheriff’s officials were investigating with help from the Wyoming Highway Patrol and Bighorn National Forest law enforcement. The county coroner also was investigating.
