Climber Dies After Anchor Accident in U.S.A.
An 18-year-old college student was climbing for her second time outdoors when she fell 30 metres
An 18-year-old climber has died after an accident took place while climbing at Cherokee Rock Village in Alabama. Deputy coroner Blake Madaris identified the woman as Yutung “Faye” Zhang from Minnesota. The Cherokee county coroner’s office stated that they “thank all of the first responders that assisted in the both lengthy and difficult recovery process.” Zhang was a student at the University of Georgia. Greg Trevor, a spokesperson for the university, said Zhang was a first-year student at the school. “We are deeply saddened by this terrible tragedy that took the life of University of Georgia first-year student Faye Zhang,” Trevor said. “Our deepest sympathies go out to the student’s family, and we will continue to provide counselling and support to members of our community who have been affected by her passing.” It was noted that Zhang fell around 30 metres after an accident at the anchor.
Zhang’s belayer, June, wrote about the accident on Mountain Project here, saying: “Faye was on top rope. Last climber to go up. Everyone else lead the climb. She was cleaning draws as she went up. We had an extra locker on the top anchor we left for her to take off when she got to the top. We put the locker in on the incredibly unlikely premise that the mussys could come unclipped. Not that any of us really thought that would happen, but we wanted to keep our party safe. We communicated and demonstrated what she was to do when she got to the top while she was on the ground and she was aware and confident of just needing to remove a locker and leave the mussys clipped. No one was up there so no one really saw what happened. After sending the climb and removing the locker, she weighted the rope to get lowered and suddenly the rope became unweighted and she wasn’t clipped through the mussys anymore. I fell and smacked my back and head against another rock and she fell right beside me and more or less passed on impact. A few of us trained in emergency first response came to aid immediately as well as a physician that just happened to be in the area. EMS response was quite fast as well but there was really nothing to be done.
“Between all of us we have decades of climbing experience. In our eyes this was routine and one of the safest things we could ask of a relatively new climber. At the same time I know all of us are kicking ourselves for asking her to do anything at all and we of course would rather someone else go up and get the gear or just leave it there but that’s just not what happened. We’ve all been thinking about what we could or should have done differently or how this could have been a safer experience. Of course we can’t change anything that’s happened and we’re all gutted and lost. None of our party really knows how it happened. It’s a tragic accident and we’re all shaken up from it. Faye was a relatively new climber and had so much stoke and was a shining example of our community. We met her in our local gym in Athens, Georgia. She was a freshman at UGA and hadn’t been climbing outside many times before this. She went up another route or two that day at Sun Wall and was really a very confident and mentally strong climber. She was honestly inspiring and we were all so excited to have invited her on this trip. All that said. Stay safe out there friends. I love this community and everyone in it. If anyone else has gone through something similar I would love if you reached out.”
Zhang’s father Pingchuan Zhang also commented on the Mountain Project forum about her accident, saying, “I am Faye’s dad. Thanks for all of the prayers. Faye texted us on Saturday morning – ‘Person organizing trip cooked delicious breakfast.’ She is 18, freshman from UGA foundation fellowship. This is her second time climbing outdoors.” Mountain guide Karsten Delap gives an example of what likely led to Zhang’s tragic fall, watch below. Our condolences to the family and friends of Zhang.
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