[oldplayer]

Too bad. These talents are levels above what we mortals can do going up or down. I’ve done some climbing and have nothing but respect for these guys.

R.I.P.

[Pelham]

ping

[PAR35]

Brings to mind the Clint Eastwood movie. The Eiger Sanction.

[Drew68]

He died doing what he loved. Screaming.

[Empireoftheatom48]

Gobright, Gobwrong.

[wastoute]

“Australian” rappelling. Using your body as a brake bar. It works until it doesn’t.

[Larry Lucido]

“We started rapping,”

I’m no expert, but I’ll venture that there is never a good time to rap.

[John S Mosby]

Zero sympathy or empathy for adrenalin junkies. This was not solo— it involved a climbing partner who is lucky (he sure knows it) to be alive, thanks to a bush breaking his fall.

Solo? Ok, you lose a grip, you fall and probably die your choice. But “rapped” to another? The math of gravity is absolute, and inexorable, and all the worse that this is done for a “self” and not “for” anyone else, except probably gear sponsorships. Gravity is a non-variable, and non-controllable, by the limits of human personal strength and perception.

Someone climbs higher than 30 feet above the ground without a rope and gear- they’re in the death zone and a fall means death.

[headsonpikes]

My first thought upon seeing this story was a poem we read in 1960 Canadian 10th grade. Earle Birney’s “David” speaks of the unspeakable. As the father of former rock-climbers and mountaineers, I’m relieved that they all survived into their forties.

I had a few concerns about the risks, back in the day.

This is a moving poem:

https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poems/david

[deadrock]

[heartwood]

"It was basically a blur," Mr Jacobson added. "He screamed. I screamed. I went through some vegetation, and then all I remember is seeing his blue Gramicci shirt bounce over the edge."

Product placement?

[Vendome]

A friend died earlier this year
https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/deeply-inspired-remembering-kyle-roseborrough/

[TruthBeforeAll]

People who live on the edge too often forget that they are able to live there not only due to what they control, but because of an innate ability born into them. One that will degrade as they near there 40’s. Reflexes and reaction times may have saved them 100 times without them even realizing it. But one day they will reach for the bar, and it may not be there...

[krogers58]

So unexpected. Who could have ever seen this coming?

I mean I am a pro tower climber, but the gear I use makes my climbing safer than riding to the tower on the roads. The only danger in my job, is me, and my becoming comfortable at what I'm doing. Here's the math:

50% of falls above 6 ft are fatal. (I doubted this initially, but did my own research and it's a valid stat)

90% of falls above 15 ft are fatal.

I think the numbers reach 100% shortly after 15 feet.

[outofsalt]

Before Isaac Newton discovered gravity, people could fly.