A Colorado mountain climber was found dead — seated at the summit of one of Bolivia’s highest peaks — after suffering a fatal respiratory issue, family and rescue crews say.
Daniel Granberg, 24, of Montrose died Friday, the second day of his trek on the famed Illimani mountain while accompanied by two guides along one of its longest and most difficult trails.
“We found Daniel lifeless, seated at the summit. His lungs did not hold out; he couldn’t get up to continue,” said Sergio Condori Vallejos, a mountain guide who works with Bolivian Andean Rescue and who led a two-day recovery effort that ended Sunday.
The guides who had joined Granberg on the trek sought help from rescuers when he suffered the medical emergency. It took two days to recover the US climber’s body.
Granberg’s mom, Jean Granberg, said her son’s cause of death was high-altitude pulmonary distress.
She said he had experienced some shortness of breath the night before and a mild headache but nothing to indicate that his life was in danger.
“Twenty-four years is not long enough, and I just wish somehow there’d been some kind of warning,” she said. “If he had felt like he was in danger in any way, he would have come down the mountain. But I think it happened so fast.”
His body was then taken to a morgue at a hospital in La Paz, according to members of the local fire department.
Tracy Lightsey, one of Daniel’s high-school teachers, launched a fundraiser to bring his body home.
“The response from people is entirely because this young man was an incredible human, and he touched people wherever he was,” Lightsey said.
With Post wires