Ski Club Instructor Hannah Taylor Killed By Dislodged Rock
SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Friends and family paid their tributes Saturday to 39-year-old Hannah Taylor in her New Hampshire hometown. Taylor was killed by rockfall near Silverthorne on July 21.
A memorial service was held in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, for the Summit Nordic Ski Club instructor.
"Hannah has been with Summit Nordic Ski club for 14 years and there are no words that can describe the impact she has had on our club," the club stated in a Facebook post after the accident. "We all know that this club wouldn't exist without her."
Taylor was hiking and climbing with the ski club's head coach, Olof Heberg, at the time of the accident.
"I will forever remember the last moments of Hannah's life," Heberg stated on his own Facebook page.
The pair was hiking and climbing on the Willow Peak Ridge near East Thorne Peak, according to a ski club associate of both Heberg and Taylor, when a rock Taylor was holding on to broke free.
The rock followed Taylor as she stumbled down the slope and struck her the back of her head.
The Summit County Coroner's Office reported she fell 66 feet down a gulley and then over a 200-foot cliff.
The Summit County Rescue Group responded to the incident at 12:30 p.m.
"The victim was located in a particularly difficult spot to access," the rescue group stated in a press release.
Eventually, a Black Hawk helicopter from the Colorado National Guard lowered emergency personnel to the woman's location three hours after the call to 9-1-1.
Taylor's body was flown off the mountain and taken to the coroner's office.
"Without ever asking for the spotlight," the ski club's Facebook post continued, "she shaped SNSC to a reflection of herself, and every day going forward we will try to honor that reflection and be the best we can. We will miss you every day."