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Body of Colorado Springs man missing on Longs Peak found Thursday

By The Gazette May 16, 2024 | updated 1 year ago

The body of a Colorado Springs man who was reported missing on Long Peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park Sunday has been found.

Lucas Macaj, 23, was summiting Longs Peak via the Keyhole Route and was was last heard from around 1 p.m., Sunday, when he texted a friend saying that he was on the summit.

Longs Peak Cirque Courtesy Rocky Mountain National Park

Longs Peak Cirque Courtesy Rocky Mountain National Park


Courtesy, Rocky Mountain National Park


His body was recovered Thursday via helicopter, according to a release from Rocky Mountain National Park Service. He was found on Mills Glacier, near the base of the Lamb’s Slide couloir, on the eastern face of Longs Peak.

An initial investigation completed by park rangers “indicates he took a significant fall,” the release said. 

The release said significant storms had hit higher elevations in Rocky Mountain National Park Sunday afternoon.

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According to the National Park Service website, the popular Keyhole Route to the summit of Long’s Peak is not a hike,  but a climb “that crosses enormous sheer vertical rock faces, often with falling rocks, requiring scrambling, where an unroped fall would likely be fatal. The route has narrow ledges, loose rock, and steep cliffs.”

The route is a “summer scramble” in warmer months, but should be treated as a winter mountaineering route in the colder months, according to the National Parks Service website.

The Boulder County Coroner’s Office will release the official cause of death of Macaj.

Gazette news partner KOAA reports Macaj was a Space Guardian at Schriever Space Force Base. 

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