Episode

80 Feet: A Via Ferrata Tragedy in Colorado | Disaster Strikes E 230

Podcast: The CRUX: True Survival Stories
Published: Apr 23, 2026
Duration seconds: 1885
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Summary

On September 20th, 2025, 26-year-old Colorado guide Olivia Copeland fell 80 feet to her death while demonstrating a rappel — killed by a single threading error in her belay device. What investigators found at Arkansas Valley Adventures was damning: no written training, no competency testing, no backup safety systems. Guides learned by watching. Some didn't know backups existed. Olivia's death pulls back the curtain on Colorado's via ferrata industry, where companies write their own safety rules with little outside oversight. This is a story about what happens when routine becomes autopilot — and there's nothing left to catch the mistake.