Fatality on the Nose 9/28/23

There have been some reports coming out of Yosemite for the past few days about a rappelling accident involving an individual coming down from Sickle Ledge. 

My sincerest condolences to the victim and all those close to him. 

Yes, unfortunately my friends and I were at the base when it happened and witnessed the whole thing. My condolences to the family and friends. Any news on the cause of the accident? The climber seemed to have been attached to a rope.

Frank P wrote:

Yes, unfortunately my friends and I were at the base when it happened and witnessed the whole thing. My condolences to the family and friends. Any news on the cause of the accident? The climber seemed to have been attached to a rope.

Take care of yourself Frank.  Witnessing accidents like that has the potential to mess with you.

I believe it corresponds to this post on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Yosemite/comments/16xfd5z/climber_death_on_el_cap/

Someone there mentioned that ElCap Report had more details: http://elcapreport.com/node/1098

You may have heard the terrible news that a Korean climbing school instructor was killed while rappelling from Sickle Ledge on the Nose. He had several of his students with him on the route when he went down to fix lines to the deck and went off the end of his rope.  Our’s is a close knit climbing community here in Yosemite and we all mourn his loss and send condolences to his friends and family in this difficult time.

Heartbreaking all around - both for the climber and their loved ones and the witnesses at the base. Sharing my sincerest condolences as well.

Joan Creus wrote:

I believe it corresponds to this post on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Yosemite/comments/16xfd5z/climber_death_on_el_cap/

Christ, that person's report is traumatic to say the least - lucky they weren't hit.

Horrible tragedy, I hope those affected can find peace.

Big Red wrote:

Christ, that person's report is traumatic to say the least - lucky they weren't hit.

Horrible tragedy, I hope those affected can find peace.

Dude got sprayed with “debris” from the impact. Intense.

Frank P wrote:

Yes, unfortunately my friends and I were at the base when it happened and witnessed the whole thing. My condolences to the family and friends. Any news on the cause of the accident? The climber seemed to have been attached to a rope.

Yeah, take care of yourself.

Tradiban wrote:

Dude got sprayed with “debris” from the impact. Intense.

Yeah, I was lucky enough to be shielded by some bushes, just a few feet away from where he landed and don’t have to see the result. My friend jumped towards it to try and help and retreated screaming so I focused my attention on her. I read about accidents like this many times (I’ve been climbing for 25 years) but I never imagined the violence of it, the speed, like a bullet, the sound. I forced myself to climb and rappel the next day to not let this affect me so much and letting go of the anchor, even though I checked my system many times, never felt that scary. 

Frank P wrote:

Yeah, I was lucky enough to be shielded by some bushes, just a few feet away from where he landed and don’t have to see the result. My friend jumped towards it to try and help and retreated screaming so I focused my attention on her. I read about accidents like this many times (I’ve been climbing for 25 years) but I never imagined the violence of it, the speed, like a bullet, the sound. I forced myself to climb and rappel the next day to not let this affect me so much and letting go of the anchor, even though I checked my system many times, never felt that scary. 

Godspeed.

I don’t think anyone reading that account will not tie knots in their rope ever again.

Dan Smee wrote:

Tragic, but also c'mon man! A Climbing instructor on a big wall not tying knots in their rope?  Ironic that he died in front of several of his students doing something he should have been drilling into their brains to never do.  It is mind boggling to me that rapping off the end of your rope is (by a country mile) the most common, but also most easily avoidable way to kill yourself while rock climbing.

I feel most for the people who witnessed this traumatic event due to the deceased's neglect to follow the most basic safety guidelines.  

Even if you "know" it's on the ground, knot those ends people!

You’re not wrong but a little tact goes a long way. 

Dan Smee wrote:

Tragic, but also c'mon man! A Climbing instructor on a big wall not tying knots in their rope?  Ironic that he died in front of several of his students doing something he should have been drilling into their brains to never do.  It is mind boggling to me that rapping off the end of your rope is (by a country mile) the most common, but also most easily avoidable way to kill yourself while rock climbing.

I feel most for the people who witnessed this traumatic event due to the deceased's neglect to follow the most basic safety guidelines.  

Even if you "know" it's on the ground, knot those ends people!

This post lacks empathy and humility. We all take your point but I think you can do better in a deceased climber thread. 

Dave Alie wrote:

This post lacks empathy and humility. We all take your point but I think you can do better in a deceased climber thread. 

I agree, first I would not jump to conclusions about what happened, while rappelling off the end of the rope seems to fit I’m not sure that’s what happened, the rope seemed to be attached to him the whole time. I hope an official report with the facts will be eventually released. Second, it’s easy to think we’re invulnerable to mistakes but the truth is we all can make a mistake. I know I have, I’ve been lucky that they didn’t result in something like this but they could have, I was just lucky and I learned. In any case this was a person with a life, family and friends, let’s not reduce him to just this event. The thing that haunts me the most about this incident is that I put myself in his place, how it must’ve felt after realizing what was happening. As a witness disbelief was my initial emotion, this can’t be really happening is what I told myself, and it took a while to sink in.

Dan Smee wrote:

My post indeed expressed empathy, especially for those that witnessed the incident.  Those people are the ones that will probably have psychological trauma for some time due to circumstances they had no control over.  The climber however controlled, and ultimately sealed his own fate. I stated that the death itself was tragic.  I'm never happy to see a fellow climber die in any manner.  It is however, a little hard to feel bad for someone who didn't respect the dangers of what they were doing.  This climber died in a manner that is preventable by using knowledge everyone should learn before they ever get on a wall, let alone el cap (to teach people how to climb to boot!).  I think a lot of people here are mistaking my not feeling bad for this person, as totally lacking empathy for the situation as a whole.  Sucks all around, but it didn't have to happen. 

You can absolutely respect the dangers of what you are doing and still make a mistake.  Read Frank's post, he witnessed the accident and isn't sure that's what happened.

Dan Smee wrote:

My post indeed expressed empathy, especially for those that witnessed the incident.  Those people are the ones that will probably have psychological trauma for some time due to circumstances they had no control over.  The climber however controlled, and ultimately sealed his own fate. I stated that the death itself was tragic.  I'm never happy to see a fellow climber die in any manner.  It is however, a little hard to feel bad for someone who didn't respect the dangers of what they were doing.  This climber died in a manner that is preventable by using knowledge everyone should learn before they ever get on a wall, let alone el cap (to teach people how to climb to boot!).  I think a lot of people here are mistaking my not feeling bad for this person, as totally lacking empathy for the situation as a whole.  Sucks all around, but it didn't have to happen. 

You’re being an asshole

Dan Smee wrote:

My post indeed expressed empathy, especially for those that witnessed the incident.  Those people are the ones that will probably have psychological trauma for some time due to circumstances they had no control over.  The climber however controlled, and ultimately sealed his own fate. I stated that the death itself was tragic.  I'm never happy to see a fellow climber die in any manner.  It is however, a little hard to feel bad for someone who didn't respect the dangers of what they were doing.  This climber died in a manner that is preventable by using knowledge everyone should learn before they ever get on a wall, let alone el cap (to teach people how to climb to boot!).  I think a lot of people here are mistaking my not feeling bad for this person, as totally lacking empathy for the situation as a whole.  Sucks all around, but it didn't have to happen. 

I get what you’re saying, but I do feel bad for this man. No one “deserves” this. I’m not sure of what mistake he made, but I feel sorry for him regardless. I know that this was a mixed group comprised of two groups that just met the day before (they both happened to be Korean and they found each other) so it could’ve been a lack of communication or a difference in process that lead to this. I actually talked to one of the people in the group before and after the accident, he was not part of the victim’s group but they were climbing together that day. We all should be humble and recognize that we all can make mistakes. 

Dan Smee wrote:

My post indeed expressed empathy, especially for those that witnessed the incident.  Those people are the ones that will probably have psychological trauma for some time due to circumstances they had no control over.  The climber however controlled, and ultimately sealed his own fate. I stated that the death itself was tragic.  I'm never happy to see a fellow climber die in any manner.  It is however, a little hard to feel bad for someone who didn't respect the dangers of what they were doing.  This climber died in a manner that is preventable by using knowledge everyone should learn before they ever get on a wall, let alone el cap (to teach people how to climb to boot!).  I think a lot of people here are mistaking my not feeling bad for this person, as totally lacking empathy for the situation as a whole.  Sucks all around, but it didn't have to happen. 

Dan, I respect your candor.

Unfortunately, expressing an unfortunate truth is not respected by the MP “community”.

It’s hard for many to absorb this kind of easily preventable accident (if indeed it was rapping off the ends) and lashing out to anyone who doesn’t share their sentiment is par for the course.

It’s an unfriendly reminder to stay vigilant in all our safety protocol.

Dan Smee wrote:

I think it may be important to draw a distinction between mistake and negligence in cases like this.  Knotting the end of your rope is beat into us climbers so much that I personally believe not doing so amounts to negligence.  For something to be a mistake, you kinda have to not know something first.  If you know something very well and don't do it, that's negligence.  

Also, point taken about jumping to conclusions.  I was led to believe from several sources that this was a definitive case of rapping off the ends.  If that is not the case, this is not even a conversation.

Just apologize for blabbering and sit the f*** down.

I am very sorry to see that another adventurous life has been cut short. 

RIP to the deseased. Reminder to triple, quadruple check everything.

Regarding Dan: Pathetic to take sass from someone that has 40+ 5.6 tics and an epic on Cat in the Hat.

Sit down and shut up is right. Maybe someday you will be strong enough to guide the Nose. 

Been on many rescues in the mountains and I still struggle to imagine what witnessing this accident must feel like.  Condolences to all involved.

Grief and mental trauma are insidious and still carry a stigma in many societal circles.  It's OK, nay, shows strength to be vulnerable with tough emotions.  I hope all involved are able to find the space to walk towards "normal" again.  For me it felt easy to recoil away from loved ones, but that's a tough way to process tough experiences. Keep close to the people you trust to show kindness when you're suffering.

https://americanalpineclub.org/grief-directory

Tradiban wrote:

Dan, I respect your candor.

Unfortunately, expressing an unfortunate truth is not respected by the MP “community”.

It’s hard for many to absorb this kind of easily preventable accident (if indeed it was rapping off the ends) and lashing out to anyone who doesn’t share their sentiment is par for the course.

It’s an unfriendly reminder to stay vigilant in all our safety protocol.

I don’t think I lashed out at any one, I just offered an alternative way of looking at this based on my experience in climbing (I’m what you’d call an old fart, climbing since the 90’s) and the perspective gained by being at the wrong place at the wrong time