Body of 'speed flier' recovered near Breckenridge after gear got tangled

The body of a man was recovered by rescue teams over the weekend after he and a friend went speed flying -- a sport similar to paragliding -- and one didn't arrive at his destination.

Summit County Rescue Group said that Saturday morning, they received a call from someone who was speed flying near the Copper Mountain Resort in Frisco. They launched from Peak 6 and their destination was the far east parking lot, but his friend hadn't arrived. After he called the friend's phone several times without luck, he called 911.

Summit County Rescue went searching for the man on a utility terrain vehicle and requested help from Flight for Life, which sent a helicopter to the area to help. The aircrew saw what they thought was the missing speed flier and landed nearby. The crews then hiked over to what they saw, only to find that the man had sadly died.

"His speed wing was found tangled up with the broken-off top of a tree," Summit County Rescue wrote in a Facebook post. The man was not immediately identified.

Speed flying is a hybrid sport that combines elements of paragliding and parachuting and is sometimes done with skis in the snow. Speed wings resemble parachutes but are smaller and can allow fliers to travel at faster speeds. They're also typically cheaper than paragliders and parachutes.

According to a company that manufactures all three, speed wings average about 50 to 195 square feet, can go 20 to 95 mph and cost in the range of $1,200 to $2,500. By comparison, paragliders are typically 215 to 375 square feet and travel 12 to 45 mph. Parachutes are usually between 58 and 270 square feet and go 15 to 90 mph. The latter two both typically cost between $2,000 and $4,000.

Crews were flown to the scene with equipment to extract his body. The crews used a combination of ropes, a wheeled litter and more to ultimately get his body back to the parking lot. The entire operation took over eight hours, according to Summit County Rescue. The man's body was brought to the Summit County Coroner's Office, which will provide more details as it investigates.

The sport is considerably dangerous given the speeds at which participants fly, coupled with their proximity to rocks, trees, mountainsides and other hazards. Most lists of speed flying deaths have not been updated in several years, but at least 70 deaths have been associated with the sport since 2006. Harrison Fast, a speed flier from Boulder, was killed in an accident in Switzerland in 2016. And in June of last year, a woman was rescued from Summit County when she crashed while speed flying.

That was Summit County Rescue's 85th call for a rescue in 2021, up from 54 by the same time in 2020. It wasn't immediately clear how many rescues they'd done in 2022.

"We are grateful to Flight For Life Colorado, without whom this recovery would have taken significantly longer," Summit County Rescue wrote. "Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased."