Ryan Sayers died on Steeple Peak in central Wyoming on Monday. Cause of death was lightning.
Sayers and his girlfriend, Katrin Birmann, were climbing up the 12,000-foot peak when lightning hit them. An hour later, they were hit by another lightning strike, which caused Sayers to fall about 300 feet into a ravine where he died. Birmann suffered minor burns but still managed to rappel down to Sayers' body and contact authorities for help.
Sayers was a double major in math and physics at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. He was 20.
Posted on June 20, 2003 1:34 AM