Centennial State News

The Keyhole Route was temporarily closed due to a recovery operation and was reopened after the search was completed.

"Keyhole Route of Longs Peak is temporarily closed at the Keyhole to the summit of Longs Peak due to recovery operations for a deceased male above the Ledges," The Rocky Mountain National Park Service said in a tweet.

The search operations began before sunrise on Sept. 18.

"On Sunday, September 18, recovery operations took place for Russell Jacobs, 25, from Westminster, Colorado near the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak. Rocky Mountain National Park's Search and Rescue Team contracted with Trans Aero helicopter to assist with prepositioning park rangers and aerial recovery operations, according to a press release from the National Park Service. "Jacobs’ body was recovered at approximately 5 p.m. Sunday night by helicopter and transferred to the Boulder County Coroner’s Office."      

Prior to the unfortunate event, Jacobs was able to contact a friend to let the person know he was lost and that he was not prepared for the winter conditions or sleepover at a height of more than 13,000 feet. Park rangers received the information about Jacobs and immediately contacted him via text messaging.

"Park rangers were briefly able to contact Jacobs via text message to ascertain his location and learned he was going to try to move toward the Agnes Vaille Shelter. Communication with him was then lost," according to the press release.  

The search for Jacobs was challenging because of accumulated snow, ice, wind, and cold and he was not found at the Agnes Vaille Shelter.

The operation changed from search and rescue to search and recovery up until around 5 p.m. on Sunday when park visitors discovered Jacobs' body 80 feet above the Ledges.

The Keyhole path was reopened after the recovery operations were completed.