Man who died on Mount Sopris identified

The Pitkin County Coroner’s Office identified a man who died while hiking Mount Sopris on Thursday as 73-year-old Robert Baumgartner of Boulder.

“He died of coronary artery disease while ascending the mountain,” Deputy Coroner Eric Hansen said in a statement Friday evening. “He was described as an avid climber by friends.”

A pair of female hikers found Baumgartner unconscious just below the false summit of the mountain Thursday and called for help around 1 p.m. They performed CPR, with help from dispatchers giving instructions over the phone, but he didn’t survive.

Mountain Rescue Aspen and a helicopter crew from the High Altitude Aviation Training Site assisted with the recovery operations.