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royal gorge bridge

highest bridge in the usa, canon city, co.
updated: 02.14.26 • archived: 12.24.23
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02.14.26: Deaths by suicide decrease at Royal Gorge Bridge following safety upgrades.
02.14.26, gazette.com, Jay Valusek stared at "that damned railing" for hours that bled into days after his beloved 28-year-old daughter jumped in 2018 from atop the metal edge of the Royal Gorge Bridge to her death 956 feet below.



Valusek’s vision blurred and then refocused as he pictured his precious Elizabeth Anne Valusek, who went by Beth, perched there in her final moments of this life and determined to find out what comes next.
A few years ago, while the Longmont resident made his usual 2 1/2-hour drive to the Royal Gorge Bridge in Cañon City to mark the July 18 anniversary of his child’s passing, Valusek noticed something was different. The railing he had memorized and agonized over had changed.
New security fencing had been installed facing observers on the bridge.
The old railing was protected and essentially made inaccessible by onlookers, as were the containment structure’s lower horizonal beams that had seemed like unfortunate toeholds.
And the height has been raised a few inches to 53 inches tall, said Denny Dore, marketing manager for The Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, which is operated by the Royal Gorge Company of Colorado.
"The old railing was almost an invitation to jump -– a child could have gotten over," Valusek said.
The new, anti-climb design is meant to stop or deter people from vaulting over the protective fencing and into the 80-story-high abyss.

  Elizabeth Anne "Beth" Valusek, pictured in 2017 as she worked in the Peace Corps in Mozambique, Africa.
(Courtesy of Jay Valusek)

Beth Valusek and up to 35 others are known to have died by suicide at the Royal Gorge Bridge since 1995, according to statistics from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. But the latest safety additions seem to be working, with marked declines in deaths by suicide.
From 2022 to 2024, the Fremont County coroner reported no suicide deaths referencing the words "royal" or "gorge" or "bridge" for each of those years, state data shows.
Zero deaths in a one-year span hadn’t been seen since 1995, when the coroner’s office began mentioning such key words in causes of deaths. No suicide fatalities were recorded in 1995, 1996 and 1997, though it’s possible there were some that were not officially documented.
On average, a few suicide deaths have occurred at the Royal Gorge each year, with the highest being nine deaths over 2016-2018 and six fatalities during the pandemic years of 2019-2021, according to state data. The department did not provide annual suicide deaths at the bridge to protect privacy, said Kirk Bol, manager of the vital statistics program.
"When it happens, it’s a terrible tragedy, and we’ll continue to do our best to make sure it’s as safe as possible for everybody," Dore said.
The most recent security elements, including metal reinforcements to further bolster the outer perimeter, were made after a 2021 state inspection, he said.
The bridge operator requested permission from the city to modify the railing and completed the work around 2022, said Kristy Gotham, spokeswoman for the city of Cañon City, which owns the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. The bridge company also paid for the improvements, she said.
Dore said some changes are proprietary and not made public to prevent people from circumventing the features that are intended to protect them.
The idea of installing a safety net for the bridge had been discussed in the past, but he believes it was determined that such a feature would not be feasible and too dangerous to install at the Royal Gorge.
Reduction in deaths big news
The decrease in suicide deaths seemed like big news, Valusek thought. But he said he was surprised that nobody seemed to know about the extra prevention measures; he couldn’t find anything about the changes at the Royal Gorge, the nation’s highest suspension bridge, on the omniscient internet.
After last summer’s seventh anniversary of Beth’s passing, Valusek decided to undertake a personal quest to find out and make known what’s been going on.
He said he was inspired by recent news reports of a dramatic decrease in suicide fatalities in 2024 from the nation’s deadliest bridge, the Golden Gate in San Francisco, which has had some 2,000 suicide deaths since its 1937 opening.
A steel suicide prevention net spanning the entire 1.7-mile structure took six years to install and was completed on Jan. 1, 2024, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway & Transportation District announced. The $224 million cost was paid for by state and federal funds, according to the transportation district.
But as at the Golden Gate Bridge, the Royal Gorge Bridge’s barriers are not infallible. Last June, a young man took his life at the Royal Gorge Bridge, according to a relative’s account as told to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. The state hasn’t finished compiling numbers from last year, said Bol, so he could not confirm that. But Valusek could. He said the man’s mother spoke to him about her son’s suicide.
At the Golden Gate Bridge, eight people died by suicide in 2024 after the net went up, representing a 73% decrease, and last year’s four suicide deaths at the Golden Gate Bridge reflected an even larger decrease of 87%.
With evidence that advanced safety practices prevent suicide bridge deaths, Valusek wonders, "Why weren’t these made sooner?"
Because one thing Valusek has learned in studying suicide to the point that the health coach now also defines himself as a suicidologist, is that jumping off a bridge – as compared with the more common methods of using a gun, overdosing or hanging one’s-self – requires a lot of research and planning on the part of people thinking about ending it all.
His daughter traveled 12,000 miles from her Peace Corps assignment in Mozambique to Denver International Airport, where she rented a car, drove to a motel in Cañon City and woke up the next morning to arrive as the first visitor at the Royal Gorge. Her rental car was the only remaining guest vehicle in the parking lot at closing time, and her body eventually was discovered at the bottom of the canyon.
Physical barriers at places such as bridges and tall buildings are a relatively recent development, said Dr. Jill Harkavy-Friedman, senior vice president of research and leader of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s research program.
While locations such as the Golden Gate Bridge for years have had signs and emergency call phones for immediate assistance in times of crisis, over the past few decades there’s been more awareness about and advocacy for safety nets and preventive blockades, she said, because they work.
"We know that barriers save lives; it is one of the most effective ways to prevent suicide," she said.
Her research and that of other professionals concludes that the more an area of height is made inaccessible, the more people who are thinking of taking their lives are less likely to do so.
"People do not switch from one place to another because of the way suicidal thinking works, in part," Harkavy-Friedman said in a phone interview from New York City. "At a time of a suicide attempt, people’s decision-making is less flexible; they don’t have access to their usual coping. If you put up a barrier, they most likely will not change to an alternative method. With time and space, there’s opportunity for intervention and the crisis to deescalate."
Therefore, "Anything keeping them from having access to height will save lives."
The Royal Gorge Company of Colorado continually improves safety at the 360-acre amusement park, Dore said. Changes occur every year, he said, including replacing 300 worn planks that form the 18-foot-wide walkway that stretches a length of 1,260 feet and is suspended in air by two 300-ton cables.
For years, park rangers have routinely patrolled the bridge by foot, vehicle and electric cart, looking for indications that someone might be experiencing mental distress, Dore said. They check for at-risk behavior during business hours and also when the park is closed.
"Rangers and staff are trained in procedures to prevent issues and keep everybody safe," he said.
Emergency 911 logs Valusek obtained last year indicate that the number of reported suicide threats, attempts and/or completions at the Royal Gorge decreased only recently, from a high of nine calls in both 2021 and 2023 to four in 2024 and three in 2023.
"Even though they’ve dramatically cut suicides there, they haven’t stopped people thinking about it from coming because no one knows about the changes," Valusek said.
Dore said he could not speak to what had been done under previous staff in terms of promoting the bridge’s added safety measures.
Bridge mechanisms, fencing and cables are regularly inspected by third-party engineers as well as the Colorado Department of Transportation, he added.
The same goes for the amusement park’s other attractions including a gondola ride, which this year is adding two glass-bottomed cars, a zipline that scoots across a section of the canyon, a rock-climbing wall, a giant swing known as the Skycoaster and a privately owned and operated train ride adventure.
The Royal Gorge Bridge opened in 1929, and in 1938 President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it, "One of the finest scenic spots in the whole of the United States."
A wildfire in June of 2013 destroyed 90% of the park’s 52 structures, took five days to contain and cost $30 million to rebuild. The bridge survived, however, losing just 32 of its wooden planks. The restored park reopened in May 2015.
Views of the San Juan mountain range and a dizzying glimpse of the Arkansas River below draw about 300,000 visitors per year to the park.
It’s considered Fremont County’s top tourist attraction and is rated as such by several online sites. The park is so important to the region’s economic base that an image of the bridge is used in the logo for the city of Cañon City.
Whether further suicide prevention tools will be incorporated at the Royal Gorge in the future is unknown, as the city is considering offering the management, operations and maintenance contract to a new operator.
Cañon City officials have been in negotiations since Nov. 17 with a company called CMBH Partners, Gotham said. It’s headquartered in Dallas and registered as a Colorado limited-liability corporation in April 2025, records show.
A request for proposals was issued last September and produced four bidders, according to the Colorado Bid Network. CMBH Partners submitted a bid of $37.7 million. The existing bridge operator, The Royal Gorge Company of Colorado, submitted the most expensive bid at $187.4 million.
The current 25-year contract expires Oct. 1, Dore said. Cañon City’s City Council held a closed-door executive session on Jan. 26 to discuss the negotiations.
Harkavy-Friedman reminds people that anyone can have a positive effect on someone who might be struggling mentally.
"If you see someone in distress, asking them ‘How are you?’ or ‘Are you OK?’ can save a life during that crisis moment," she said. "I think people are afraid to do that, but it can be very helpful."
Anyone wanting to speak with someone immediately about mental distress can dial 988 from any phone or text 741741 to reach the crisis hotline.
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11.15.17: officer stops a woman from jumping off the Royal Gorge Bridge.
03.07.18, canoncitydailyrecord.com, Cañon City Police Department officer who stopped woman from jumping off of Royal Gorge Bridge honored.
Officer Sterling Jenkins remembers every detail of Nov. 15, 2017 — the day he talked a woman out of jumping off of the Royal Gorge Bridge.
It started when the Cañon City Police Department received a call about the woman, who was standing on the edge of the bridge, sending text messages to her friend that read, "FU, life. I'm going to jump." She had driven all the way to Cañon City from Denver with the intention of ending her life, Police Chief Daric Harvey said.
When Jenkins got the call, he already was working on another scene.
"He finished that up pretty quickly and went lights and sirens out to the location to make contact with this woman," Harvey said.
Once Jenkins arrived, he didn't tackle the woman — "he didn't need to use force," Harvey said.
Instead, his training kicked in.
He started talking with the woman, ultimately finding out why she was on the bridge and developing rapport with her, "such that she felt comfortable leaving the edge of the bridge and coming off the side," Harvey said.
That series of events earned Jenkins the CCPD's Lifesaving Medal in a ceremony Wednesday at John D. Havens City Hall. He was among several officers and employees at the department honored for their work in 2017.
For Jenkins, the award came as a surprise.
He said he thinks about the incident often. It's something he'll remember for the rest of his life, he said.
"I think about, kind of, in two ways. No. 1 because it worked," he said. "That process we're trained to do worked that day. For that, I'm thankful I have the training for that."
He added: "I'll always remember her, forever, I'm sure, for the rest of my life. Just that call. I'm so glad that we showed up in time. It would've been a waste if she completed the suicide."
Another top honoree from the ceremony was Sgt. Tim Bell, who was named Officer of the Year for his role as administrative sergeant. He moved into the position in 2017.
Within the department, he works as the public information officer and as the supervisor of the school resource officers.
Harvey said Bell completed the transition to the role with professionalism.
"I'm honored. But any one of these guys could've gotten it because of the work that they do," Bell said. "Each and every one of them deserves it."
Wednesday's ceremony also highlighted Cindy Foster as Employee of the Year. Though she started in her role in March 2017, Harvey said she has been able to build morale within the office.
Additional awards included the Chief's Commendation, given to Pastor Shawn Johnston, Sgt. Corie Ames and Cpl. John Sabatino and the inaugural Administrative Excellence Award presented to Sgt. Andrew Sanders and Deputy Chief Allen Cooper.
Unit Citations were given to the records department, which faced a 100 percent turnover in 2016, and the detectives who worked on several high-profile cases last year.
Members of the patrol unit also were recognized for their efforts in taking a gun away from a man who was pointing it at his chest in a room at Hildebrand Retirement Center.
The team, Ames, Officer Pete Elliot, Officer Lowell Griffiths and Jenkins, were recognized for clearing out the area and successfully de-escalating the situation and assisting the man with getting help.
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05.06.17: man dies in bridge jump.
05.06.17, chieftain.com, CANON CITY -- Canon City Police are investigating an apparent suicide after a man jumped off the Royal Gorge Bridge Friday.
Police were dispatched to the bridge shortly before 6 p.m. after staff observed a man jump off the west side of the bridge. With the assistance of Fremont County Search and Rescue, the body was recovered and released to the Fremont County coroner, said Cpl. John Sabatino, police spokesman. The victim's name has not been released pending positive identification and notification of next of kin.

05.06.17, gazette.com, Body of man who jumped from Royal Gorge Bridge recovered
Authorities have recovered the body of a man who jumped off the Royal Gorge Bridge on Friday, according to a news release from the Cañon City Police Department.
Police were called to the tourist attraction off Fremont County Road 3A just before 6 p.m. after the park's staff saw a man jump off the west side of the bridge.
With the help of Fremont Search and Rescue, the body was recovered and handed over to the Fremont County Coroner. As of Saturday afternoon, authorities had not identified the man.
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10.30.16: Royal Gorge Bridge jumper still not found.
07.20.16, canoncitydailyrecord.com, The individual who jumped off the Royal Gorge Bridge on Oct. 30 has still not been recovered.
According to a news release from the Cañon City Police Department, surveillance video from the Bridge confirmed a person had jumped Sunday night.
On Oct. 31, Park Rangers from the Royal Gorge Bridge called the police dispatch center reporting they had video of an individual jumping.
Information regarding the individual and the incident will not be released until the person is found and family is notified.
Mike Bandera, director of the park, said that this has been the second person to jump off the bridge to commit suicide this year.
"It's definitely not a pleasant thing for management and our staff here," Bandera said, regarding the Bridge being a place people go to commit suicide.
"We are aware of it daily," Bandera said.
Bandera said the Royal Gorge Bridge averages about 340,000 people each year and the park averages one suicide jumper a year.
He said this year they've had two incidents, and they had two in 2015, also.
"1931 was when the first jumper was recorded, and since then, we've had the same average," he said.
When asked if and how the Royal Gorge Bridge is addressing the issue, Bandera said they have looked into many options to try and prevent it from happening.
He said that the Bridge has 13 security officers who patrol the park all hours of the day, and all security officers have been trained to recognize traits of a suicidal person and how to react when these situations occur.
"We work against this possibility every day. There's no way to tell how many (suicides) we've prevented by just patrolling and talking to people," Bandera said.
However, he said even with the training officers have received, it's impossible to find and stop everyone who enters the park with the intention of committing suicide.
Bandera said they've been working with the CCPD and Solvista to train the park's officers and also to possibly work on signage they could put up.
He said at this point, the most effective thing they can do to prevent this from happening is to have officers receive more training.
Bandera referred to the Golden Gate Bridge as a location they've looked at; as it also suffers from individuals using it has a location to commit suicide.
"They have signage, but it hasn't really shown to be effective," Bandera said, adding that the Golden Gate Bridge still averages one suicide jumper per year. (wrong. up to 40 per year.)
He also said they have looked into putting up a cage barrier or a net barrier.
"Anything we put up would have to be metal so it couldn't be cut," Bandera said.
However, a net would add extra weight and wind load to the bridge, possibly compromising the bridge's structure.
Bandera also said visitors enjoy the views and vistas seen at top of the bridge.
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07.19.16: Surveillance video confirms jump from Royal Gorge Bridge.
07.20.16, chaffeecountytimes.com, Cañon City police recovered the body of a man who reportedly jumped from the Royal Gorge Bridge at about 4:46 p.m. Tuesday.
A press release from the police department stated that surveillance video footage indicated a man about 55-60 years old had jumped from the middle of the bridge on the west side.
The Cañon City Police Investigation Team responded and was assisted by the Royal Gorge Railroad High Rail, Cañon City Fire Department and the Fremont County coroner for recovery efforts.
Police said the man has not been identified but is believed to be from Colorado.
Anyone who has information about the incident is asked to contact the Cañon City Police Department at 719-276-5600.
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04.06.16: man jumps, body found 17 days later.
Jordan Loriss, 26
04.25.16, canoncitydailyrecord.com, Royal Gorge Bridge jumper's body found,
The body of a man who reportedly jumped to his death April 6 at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park has been found and identified.
Jordan Loriss, 26, of Colorado Springs was found by Fremont County Search and Rescue on Saturday afternoon.
Fremont County Coroner Randy Keller said that detectives with the Cañon City Police Department, the Colorado Springs Police Department, the Fremont County Sheriff's Office and Fremont County Search and Rescue worked to locate the body.
A news release Monday said the body was located about two miles from First Street and the Royal Gorge Bridge. The body was about 30 feet out in swift water.
According to a press release, authorities received a call at 3:30 p.m. April 6 after a witness reported seeing a man jump from the bridge.
Keller said that Loriss' body was recovered in the Arkansas River. Teams conducted three searches on the river before they were able to locate the body.
Keller said his family has been notified and Monday's news release stated the family had identified the body to be Loriss.
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03.28.15: Person dies after leaping from 956-foot Royal Gorge Bridge.
Marcel Staehelin, 42
03.28.15, denverpost.com, Authorities in Fremont County say a 42-year-old Boulder man leaped off the 956-foot-high Royal Gorge Bridge to his death on Saturday afternoon.
The county coroner's office identified the man Monday afternoon as Marcel Staehelin.
Police in Cañon City received a call from a person reporting that Staehelin had posted a suicide note on his Facebook page indicating he was on his way from Boulder to jump off the bridge.
About four minutes after the call, officials from the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park phoned police to report that a number of visitors had witnessed a person leap from the bridge.
"Officers from the Cañon City Police Department were able to locate a body near the bottom of the canyon," police said in a news release issued Monday. "Officers did descend into the gorge and did verify that the body was a deceased male and the clothing matched what witnesses had reported seeing on the jumper."
Police say Staehelin's body was recovered late Saturday evening.
The Royal Gorge Bridge and Park is a popular Fremont County tourist destination west of Cañon City. The bridge spans 1,270 feet across the Arkansas River and is 18 feet wide.
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10.12.14: Person dies after leaping from 956-foot Royal Gorge Bridge.
Thomas Wewior, 52
10.12.14, chieftain.com, CANON CITY — A 52-year-old Littleton man jumped to his death from the Royal Gorge Bridge Sunday. The victim was identified as Thomas Wewior, Canon City police Capt. Jim Cox said Monday.
Canon City police were dispatched to the bridge at 9:37 a.m. Sunday on a report of an apparent suicide. Security personnel had observed a male walking across the bridge and then noticed he did not complete his crossing, Cox said.
The security officers then spotted what appeared to be a red coat and a body near the bottom of the gorge. Responding officers, Canon City firefighters, Fremont County coroner’s personnel and the security officers were able to locate and recover the body, Cox said.
Further details were unavailable Monday.
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09.05.12: Cañon City receives bill for recovery of remains from Royal Gorge Bridge jumpers.
09.05.12, canoncitydailyrecord.com, In the aftermath of three people jumping to their deaths from the Royal Gorge Bridge this summer, there is some debate as to who is responsible for footing the bill for recovering their remains.
The City of Cañon City received an invoice from the Royal Gorge Express, LLC for $5,025 for recovering the remains of those bridge jumpers. The situation was discussed at length during Wednesday's general government meeting.
Steve Kaverman, general manager of the Royal Gorge Route Railroad and representative for RGX, said the three separate incidents occurred March 6, March 14 and May 8. The latter incident required four separate trips into the gorge to find and recover the body, which was discovered a week later in the river by rafters.
"It was the view at the time of the management of the Royal Gorge Express that these were exceptional circumstances and although there had not been a precedent in the past to seek any cost recovery for these kinds of efforts, the repeated occasions of this kind of incident occurring this year were different circumstances," Kaverman said. "It was felt that because of the specialized equipment and various other contingencies that we need to meet when we go onto the gorge for these kind of things that it was reasonable to submit an invoice for these incidences this year."
The railroad uses specialized hy-rail equipment and staff who are qualified under Federal Railroad Administration guidelines.
The $50 per hour billing rate is a blended rate that covers holidays, weekends and 24/7 availability and the $500 truck fee per service call reflects maintenance and operation costs.
Mike Bandera, general manager for the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park, said a procedure was developed 11 years ago to handle suicides from the bridge.
"Within that procedure, the train company volunteered to be the rescue vehicle because they wanted to avoid stoppage of train passage," he said. "They wanted to be called so they could get that hy-railer in there and get the body out."
City Attorney John Havens said the railroad officials not only volunteered, but they insisted when the protocol was put together to be the recovery vehicle.
Committee members and Mayor Tony Greer said they had no idea about the procedure and felt blindsided with the invoice. Greer said he is open to renegotiating the contract and suggested RGX consider putting a cap on the number of instances they provide for before billing the city or another entity in the future.
"The last thing we want to be is hostile to businesses," Greer said. "If it's not working for you, we need to take another look at it."
Bandera said the average number of suicides from the bridge is one per year during the last 12 years until this year. He said bodies also are occasionally transported from the bottom of the gorge via the incline.
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10.05.03: Death of BASE Jumper, Slammed Full Speed Into Bridge.
Dwain Weston
 
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