Todd Skinner falls 500 ft to his death

[goodmorningdavi]

Craaaaazy.

Rock Climber Falls to Death in Yosemite

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (Oct. 25) -- A renowned rock climber was killed when he fell 500 feet after taking a new route up a rock face, a park spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Todd Skinner, 47, was rappelling when he fell to his death Monday on Leaning Tower, Adrienne Freeman said. It was not immediately clear why he fell, but park officials planned to investigate.

Skinner, of Lander, Wyo., was celebrated for having climbed hundreds of rock faces from Yukon Territory to the Himalayas using a technique called free climbing, in which climbers use no artificial aids except for a rope to protect against falls.

He was the first to free climb a now-famous route on El Capitan, a granite monolith in Yosemite that rises 3,000 feet from the valley floor, according to his Web site.

Skinner, who wrote "Beyond the Summit," claimed to have set climbing records in 26 countries.

"Someone might have climbed a peak or a crag or a cliff before, but never the way Todd Skinner did," said fellow climber Hans Florine. "His mission was to be the first person to free climb all the biggest faces in the world."

Skinner and his party were climbing near Bridalveil Fall, one of the park's best-known waterfalls, Freeman said.


10/25/06 00:17 EDT

He gave a speech at my college not too long ago.

 

[Matthew Craig]

A child in Africa died this morning too.

 

[goodmorningdavi]

A child in Africa died this morning too.

Lots of 'em, they got AIDS and stuf there.

 

[Peregrinator]

Holy shit. Todd Skinner was an amazing, visionary, somewhat controversial figure in climbing. Wow.

Thanks for the headsup, Dav.

 

[Matthew Craig]

Lots of 'em, they got AIDS and stuf there.

 

[goodmorningdavi]

Holy shit. Todd Skinner was an amazing, visionary, somewhat controversial figure in climbing. Wow.

Thanks for the headsup, Dav.

I was kinda surprised you hadn't posted anything about it yet

 

[Nostalgy_Prince]

Free-climber and he falled while rappelling? Now that's irony.

That being said, he is going to be missed. He was one (or two) of a kind.

 

[Peregrinator]

I was kinda surprised you hadn't posted anything about it yet

I get all my news from you litsters.

Just posted a bit about it in my climbing thread.

 

[Peregrinator]

Free-climber and he falled while rappelling? Now that's irony.

That being said, he is going to be missed. He was one (or two) of a kind.

I think you may be making a common mistake...free climbing means not using stuff to pull on that you put in yourself...that's "aid climbing." You may be thinking of "free-soloing," which is with no ropes or other protection.

 

[sigh]

I think you may be making a common mistake...free climbing means not using stuff to pull on that you put in yourself...that's "aid climbing." You may be thinking of "free-soloing," which is with no ropes or other protection.

But isn't rappelling fairly easy? Even I've done that, and I'm a flatland midwesterner. The irony might be that he fell while doing something millions of people do all the time.

Of course, I know nothing at all about the sport, really. It's tough to get into climbing when the tallest things around you are corn plants in August. Please correct my ignorance, if you would.

 

[Peregrinator]

But isn't rappelling fairly easy? Even I've done that, and I'm a flatland midwesterner. The irony might be that he fell while doing something millions of people do all the time.

Of course, I know nothing at all about the sport, really. It's tough to get into climbing when the tallest things around you are corn plants in August. Please correct my ignorance, if you would.

Rappelling is extraordinarily easy...and that's part of why more climbers die from rappell errors than anything else. You get lulled, because you do it all the time, like driving a car, and make a minor mistake. Trouble is, a minor mistake in rappelling often means a huge fall. It's not all that often in climbing when your entire existence is literally hanging from a rope...but that's exactly what rappelling is. Also, climbers are usually tired and dehydrated by the time they're on the way down, so the lulling effect is worse. Kinda like afternoon commuter traffic. Light a cigarette, call somebody on the cell, crank the radio...drive off a bridge....

 

[sigh]

Rappelling is extraordinarily easy...and that's part of why more climbers die from rappell errors than anything else. You get lulled, because you do it all the time, like driving a car, and make a minor mistake. Trouble is, a minor mistake in rappelling often means a huge fall. It's not all that often in climbing when your entire existence is literally hanging from a rope...but that's exactly what rappelling is. Also, climbers are usually tired and dehydrated by the time they're on the way down, so the lulling effect is worse. Kinda like afternoon commuter traffic. Light a cigarette, call somebody on the cell, crank the radio...drive off a bridge....

Good points. Thanks. Me, I never considered being lulled into a sense of complacency about rappelling. I look down a 200 foot cliff face and my bladder gets so tight I nearly pee. But then I hardly do it all the time (maybe a dozen times altogether so far). It actually is quite easy, though, so I could see how someone who's an expert might take it for granted.

He was lighting a cigarette? Silly man.

 

[Peregrinator]

Good points. Thanks. Me, I never considered being lulled into a sense of complacency about rappelling. I look down a 200 foot cliff face and my bladder gets so tight I nearly pee. But then I hardly do it all the time (maybe a dozen times altogether so far). It actually is quite easy, though, so I could see how someone who's an expert might take it for granted.

He was lighting a cigarette? Silly man.

Heh...he may have been...I've seen people do it. I'm not sure why, since the average rappell lasts all of three or four minutes. I can usually wait that long to smoke, myself.

It's terrifying the first few times, in an exhilarating way...then it gets to be kinda routine, if still fun.

I was rappelling off cathedral Ledge in NH one time, a two-pitch rappell, meaning one person raps to an intermediate point on the cliff, the second joins him, then you repeat to the ground...ropes are only so long after all.

I get to this ledge with a couple of bombproof anchors in it, unclip, start managing ropes, yell up to tell my partner that it's his turn, and realize...I'm standing on a ledge maybe the size of two coffee-table books, 150 feet above the ground, and I'm not attached to anything.

That's typical of the sort of mental lapse that leads to rappell error.

 

[sigh]

Heh...he may have been...I've seen people do it. I'm not sure why, since the average rappell lasts all of three or four minutes. I can usually wait that long to smoke, myself.

It's terrifying the first few times, in an exhilarating way...then it gets to be kinda routine, if still fun.

I was rappelling off cathedral Ledge in NH one time, a two-pitch rappell, meaning one person raps to an intermediate point on the cliff, the second joins him, then you repeat to the ground...ropes are only so long after all.

I get to this ledge with a couple of bombproof anchors in it, unclip, start managing ropes, yell up to tell my partner that it's his turn, and realize...I'm standing on a ledge maybe the size of two coffee-table books, 150 feet above the ground, and I'm not attached to anything.

That's typical of the sort of mental lapse that leads to rappell error.

Okay, I'll share a story too. I was in Southern Illinois with a friend and he told me this cliff was "around" two hundred feet high. I pointed out to him that he'd told me earlier that his rope was 150 feet long and that left a bit more empty space than I was comfortable with. Not to worry, he assured me, the rope will stretch that much and to prove it one of the other guys with us went first and sure enough, he reached the bottom with no problem and with rope to spare.

I went second and it didn't turn out the same. See, I weigh about half as much as the guy who went first so the rope didn't stretch nearly as far so I ran out with about eight feet to go. With no other choice (and certainly lacking the skill to return the way I came) I had to trust to the gods of climbing and let go. Luckily I didn't twist an ankle or worse because it was a long hike out of that canyon.

If I ever do that again, I'll load my pockets with about fifty pounds of rocks before I start. Better yet, I'll stick to cliffs where the rope reaches bottom without any stretching. I've a bit of the coward in me.

 

[Peregrinator]

Okay, I'll share a story too. I was in Southern Illinois with a friend and he told me this cliff was "around" two hundred feet high. I pointed out to him that he'd told me earlier that his rope was 150 feet long and that left a bit more empty space than I was comfortable with. Not to worry, he assured me, the rope will stretch that much and to prove it one of the other guys with us went first and sure enough, he reached the bottom with no problem and with rope to spare.

I went second and it didn't turn out the same. See, I weigh about half as much as the guy who went first so the rope didn't stretch nearly as far so I ran out with about eight feet to go. With no other choice (and certainly lacking the skill to return the way I came) I had to trust to the gods of climbing and let go. Luckily I didn't twist an ankle or worse because it was a long hike out of that canyon.

If I ever do that again, I'll load my pockets with about fifty pounds of rocks before I start. Better yet, I'll stick to cliffs where the rope reaches bottom without any stretching. I've a bit of the coward in me.

That's not cowardice. That's sanity. I don't know who those people were, but I'd never go anywhere near a cliff with either of them again. That's just plain stupid, like driving a car on a train track. Wtf were they thinking?

 

[gman23]

I fell off a barstool last night, fortunately I landed on a buxom blonde. I think she may be coming by tonight to get fell on again.

 

[sigh]

That's not cowardice. That's sanity. I don't know who those people were, but I'd never go anywhere near a cliff with either of them again. That's just plain stupid, like driving a car on a train track. Wtf were they thinking?

Actually there were six of us and I was the newbie of the bunch. I didn't know the rope-owner before that day, and I've never been out around cliffs with him since. It's been a couple of years since I've seen him at all.

Maybe he ended up squashed at the bottom of a too-high cliff, I don't know. Calling him my friend was mostly courtesy.

The rope did stretch a lot, though, I'll give him that much, and I was the only one who didn't reach bottom, but I was the tiniest of the lot (I usually am).

 

[Peregrinator]

I fell off a barstool last night, fortunately I landed on a buxom blonde. I think she may be coming by tonight to get fell on again.

You fell on Veebs?

 

[Peregrinator]

Actually there were six of us and I was the newbie of the bunch. I didn't know the rope-owner before that day, and I've never been out around cliffs with him since. It's been a couple of years since I've seen him at all.

Maybe he ended up squashed at the bottom of a too-high cliff, I don't know. Calling him my friend was mostly courtesy.

The rope did stretch a lot, though, I'll give him that much, and I was the only one who didn't reach bottom, but I was the tiniest of the lot (I usually am).

That sounds about right...

Tiny?


I think I'm developing a crush on you....

 

[sigh]

That sounds about right...

Tiny?


I think I'm developing a crush on you....

I stopped growing when I was about fourteen. And I wasn't all that big then.

 

[gman23]

You fell on Veebs?

Maybe tommorow, if I am lucky. She is a tiny brunette though. With beautiful blue eyes. Will you come to the wedding?

 

[gman23]

That sounds about right...

Tiny?


I think I'm developing a crush on you....

Sigh is way cool. She has written some of the most beautiful posts I have ever read on lit.

 

[Peregrinator]

Maybe tommorow, if I am lucky. She is a tiny brunette though. With beautiful blue eyes. Will you come to the wedding?

Absolutely. With bells on, and my jester hat, which I bought at HungryJoe's wedding.

 

[Peregrinator]

Sigh is way cool. She has written some of the most beautiful posts I have ever read on lit.

Yeah...she's been a quiet fave of mine forever.

 

[gman23]

Absolutely. With bells on, and my jester hat, which I bought at HungryJoe's wedding.

We have allready picked the childrens names, so I cant really name any after you. I hope you understand.