BOULDER – Authorities have released the name of a hiker who died after falling about 30 feet near the summit of a mountain peak south of Boulder.
Boulder County sheriff’s officials say a thunderstorm stranded 23-year-old Gavin Caruso, of Springfield, Illinois, and his 19-year-old girlfriend on South Boulder Peak the evening of June 24. The woman was seriously injured when she fell on slippery rocks while coming down from the summit, and Caruso fell when he tried to help her.
He was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where he died of a head injury. The woman also was hospitalized.
Caruso’s father, Ray Caruso, who lives in Colorado, said his son had always been spontaneous and recently surprised him with a visit for Father’s Day.
“It really has helped, his last two acts,” Ray Caruso told The Daily Camera. “Him coming out to surprise me and spend some time with me, and helping his girlfriend when they were up on that mountain.”
