Search and rescue personnel are working to find two missing students from Colorado Mountain College’s Leadville campus after receiving a call from school staff that Kaden Matsuda, 19 and of Ridgway, and Jackson Donlon, 20 and of New York, had not returned from a weekend trip to the 13,960-foot Ice Mountain area of northern Chaffee County
The call for help was received on Monday, October 26, with the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office learning that the two students had left campus on Friday, October 23, informing friends that they would come back on Saturday if met with unsafe conditions or Sunday if they continued onto Ice Mountain, as planned. As described by the sheriff’s office, this peak poses a very technical climb, recommended only for hikers who are very experienced. Friends and family indicate that both students were experienced climbers who likely had the right gear with them.
With knowledge that most people with their eyes set on Ice Mountain would drive near Winfield to access the Mount Huron trailhead, this is where deputies started their search, and where Kaden Matsuda’s vehicle would soon be located. When deputies found the vehicle, there was about eight inches of snow around it, but not under it, indicating that the two had likely been met with snow after their drive into the area…