# Horrific cause of death revealed for college students who went missing on Ice Mountain climb

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/horrific-cause-of-death-revealed-for-college-students-who-went-missing-on-ice-mountain-climb/
- Published: 2026-11-04T12:32:19+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T13:10:04+00:00
- Original publisher: New York Post (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://nypost.com/2026/11/04/us-news/jackson-donlon-kaden-matsuda-fell-to-their-deaths-on-colorado-hiking-trip/
- Topics: World

## Key points

- Two students died after their rappelling anchor failed.
- The fall distance and cause of the failure remain unknown.
- Authorities said both deaths were instant and neither suffered.

## Summary

Two Colorado Mountain College students who disappeared during a hike on Ice Mountain died after their rappelling anchor failed, according to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office. The finding explains how the experienced climbers fell and were killed during their attempt to climb a peak close to 14,000 feet.

Jackson Donlon, 20, and Kaden Matsuda, 19, fell a substantial but undetermined distance into a mountain basin. Investigators said Donlon was starting to rappel from an anchor system that included a piton and a secondary rock anchor; Matsuda was attached to the same points. Autopsies found both died instantly from multiple blunt force injuries, and authorities said neither suffered. A heavy snowstorm was present, but its role in the anchor failure is unknown; the students’ bodies were found five days after they left campus.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.