A set of experienced rock climbers fell for their deaths Saturday morning while scaling a massive rock formation at Yosemite National Park in northern California, the National Park Service announced.
Close friends Tim Klein, 42, and Jason Wells, 46, were climbing the Freeblast route on El Capitan (a large rock formation) around 8 a.m. when tragedy struck. A scream was heard as Klein and Wells, tethered together, fell 1,000 feet to the ground, according to Climbing.com.
“They are both no longer around,” Klein’s wife, JJ, wrote inside a Facebook post on Saturday, alongside a photograph from the couple on their own wedding day. “I know this is incredibly shocking and sad to a lot of you who knew them, which is still very surreal to the boys and I and our whole family and circle of friends. Our only comfort is Jesus right now.”
So this man we all like, Tim Klein, went climbing with 2 dear friends, Jason and Kevin, and from things i understand there…
Posted by J J Tamura Klein on Saturday, June 2, 2018
JJ said that Klein and Wells fell from the rock following a haul bag from climbers above fell to the pair. Park rangers received several 911 calls after the incident and rescue teams found the boys dead at the scene, based on the NPS.
As elite climbers, the men would often climb the 3,000-foot rock formation on weekends, a friend of the pair,?Wayne Willoughby, told Climbing.com. Klein, of Palmdale, California, and Wells, of Boulder, Colorado, began climbing together during college in San Diego, he added.
In the wake of their deaths, friends and family have shared photos and memories from the men on Facebook.
“I’ve rock climbed more pitches with Jason than every other individual. His energy, laughter, and genuine passion for climbing were absolutely infectious,” Stefan Griebel wrote in a post on Saturday.
“And Tim – After my last trip up El Cap with Tim, I later confided in Jason that Tim was the most Jesus-like man I’ve ever known. So true, and also this type of great topic for jokes, laughter and deeper conversations. Each of them, humble and selfless. But, my hurt and sadness seems insignificant to that particular of the items their wives and families should be feeling. A horrible loss.”
Friends have generate a GoFundMe page for Klein’s family.
Another friend, Greg Murphy, shared a Facebook photo of the men roped together while climbing a rope. He wrote simply: “Damn, I’m going to miss this option blowing past me on El Cap. Much love.”
Damn, I’m going to miss this option blowing past me on El Cap. Much love.
Posted by Greg Murphy on Saturday, June 2, 2018
Ken Yager, president of the?Yosemite Climbing Association, described El Capitan to the New York Times like a prime target for “serious climbers.”
“People throughout the planet arrived at climb it,” he said. Although few details have been released concerning the cause of the fall, Yager described the men as “very experienced” climbers.
“Something weird happened. There is no doubt in my mind,” he added.
