Climber Dies on The Nose

During one of the busier Yosemite seasons of late, a 22-year-old climber from Boulder, CO died on The Nose on May 27.

YOSAR reponded to a call on May 27 after a climber fell 60 metres to the end of his rope while attempting to rappel from Camp Six to Camp Five to retrieve a piece of dropped equipment.

The fallen climber’s partners radioed for help and rappelled down to wait for assistance. Details are fuzzy as to why the climber fell the length of the rope, but it sounds like he was not clipped into any rappel device.

As Tom Evans reports on his El Cap Report, “Sadly, the lesson here is to check and double check your set up whenever you commit yourself to the rope.  Also, all members of the team should look to see that anyone going on a rope is properly attached to it.

“It is always a good policy to check, even if just an informal look, each other’s knots and attachments at every belay.. it only takes a moment to look and it could save a life.”

Our  condolences go out to the family and friends of the deceased climber.

This is the second tragic death of 2015 in Yosemite as leading climber Dean Potter died during a BASE-jump accident lass than a month ago.