A Silverthorne man was crushed to death by a falling boulder on a trail near Buena Vista in the Upper Arkansas River Valley on Tuesday, sheriff’s officials said.
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Two men who worked for a moving company were passing through the area after completing a delivery and stopped at the “Rapid 5 1/2 Pullover” on Chaffee County Road 371 outside of Buena Vista, according to the sheriff’s office. The two men often stopped at this popular camping spot along the Arkansas River to have lunch while driving, investigators said.
While walking back up the trail, one of the men — identified by the sheriff’s office as 59-year-old Paul Frasch of Silverthorne — dislodged rocks along the trail and was crushed.
Chaffee County deputies responded to the fatal rockslide at about 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to the sheriff’s office.
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Investigators estimated that one of the boulders on top of Frasch’s body weighed at least half a ton, or roughly 1,000 pounds, sheriff’s officials said. The man died at the scene.
Frasch’s coworker injured his arms while trying to free Frasch, but no other injuries or fatalities were reported, investigators said.
The incident remains under investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.
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