ESTES PARK, Colo. — A body found covered in deep snow at an elevation of more than 12,000 feet in the Long's Peak area of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) is likely that of a New Jersey man who has been missing since last October.
Over the weekend, two park climbing rangers conducted a patrol of Longs Peak. While patrolling down the section known as The Trough, rangers found a glove that matched the brand that Ryan Albert was believed to have been wearing.
Albert was reported overdue by a family member on Oct. 5, 2018. He was last seen a day earlier by another park visitor at approximately 10:30 a.m. in the area of Granite Pass heading toward The Keyhole on Longs Peak.
On Thursday, a team of four highly skilled park climbing rangers ascended The Trough and after several hours of searching in this steep winter alpine terrain, located Albert’s body.
It was found about 1,000 feet below The Ledges section of the Keyhole Route, approximately 2,000 feet below the summit. Despite it being nearly June, the area is in winter conditions with deep snow and ice, a release from RMNP said.
Rangers completed an on-scene investigation Friday morning and Albert’s body was recovered by helicopter.
It was transferred to the Boulder County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy. Once the investigation is complete more details will be released. Until then, no further information is available.
Inclement weather that started on October 4 was the beginning of a multi-day weather pattern of extreme conditions including low visibility and fog, thunderstorms and snow showers and freezing temperatures in the 20s and 30s. It hampered initial search efforts for Albert.
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