On May 27, Tyler, a 22-year-old from Colorado, died in yet another tragic rappelling accident after a 200-foot fall on the Nose of El Capitan.
According to Tom Evans of the El Cap Report, who talked to Tyler’s two climbing partners, Cletis and Ryan, after the incident, all three of the climbers were at Camp VI when Tyler decided to rappel down to Camp V to recover some dropped gear.
Tyler was descending the two pitches on a single rappel rope. According to his climbing partners, he had tied a knot in the end of the rope before lowering, however, when Tyler leaned off the cliff to begin his descent, he freefell the entire length of the rope, hitting the highest ledge at Camp V.
Ryan rappelled down to Tyler and found that Tyler was not connected to his belay device. It is unclear whether Tyler neglected to clip his GriGri to the rope, or if he had somehow clipped it incorrectly.
Source: rockandice.com
IMAGE: Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan, scene of the May 27 rappelling accident. rockandice.com
