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NEW CANAAN, Conn. A New Canaan man who had an enthusiasm for hiking the mountains of Colorado was found dead Saturday after being hit by a rock slide, officials there said Monday.
Rob Jansen, 24, died as a result of injuries sustained in a rock slide near Hagerman Peak in Gunnison County, Colo. Hagerman Peak is located about 11 miles from Aspen, Colo. It is part of the Elk Mountain Range.
Jansens body was recovered at about 11 a.m. Monday by rescuers from Mountain Rescue Aspen, according to the Pitkin County Sheriffs Office in Colorado.
A report of injuries in a rock slide was received at about 5 p.m. Saturday, Chief Hank Smith of the Mount Crested Butte (Colo.) Police said. Jansen and four other men were climbing in a steep and rocky area, police said.
Jansen suffered head and chest injuries, and his condition deteriorated quickly on the mountain, Smith said.
Tyler Prince, a native of Westport according to his Facebook page, suffered a broken ankle in the slide. None of the three other men, all from Colorado, were injured. Prince and the three Colorado men were lifted from the mountain by helicopter Sunday.
Rescuers were unable to reach Jansen on Saturday because of the timing of another search and rescue incident near South Maroon, the Pitkin Sheriffs office said.
Prince, a 2007 graduate of Staples High School and 2011 graduate of Middlebury College, was taken to an Aspen hospital for treatment of his ankle. A woman who answered the phone at his parents' home in Westport Monday declined to comment.
Jansen was a 2007 graduate of New Canaan High School and a 2011 graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. His death was being mourned on a hiker's forum.
Vanessa Inzitari contributed reporting.
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