Fall Kills Climber And Strands Partner On Wyoming’s Devils Tower

HULETT, Wyoming – A climber died while rappelling down Devils Tower, leaving his partner stranded without a rope on the face of the Wyoming geological feature.

The trapped climber was recovered unharmed after calling for help Sunday evening, The Tower National Monument Superintendent Doug Crossen said Wednesday.

Fall Kills Climber And Strands Partner On Wyoming’s Devils Tower

Stewart Phillip Porter, 21, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, died on Sunday, marking the park’s seventh climbing fatality in its 118-year existence. Approximately 6,000 individuals climb the formation each year.

The two were climbing El Cracko Diablo, a reasonably straightforward route. Porter collapsed while they were on their way back down the tower after summiting it.

The fall’s cause was unknown. The accident was still being investigated, Crossen stated.

Fall Kills Climber And Strands Partner On Wyoming’s Devils Tower

The Tower, with sheer sides almost 870 feet (265 meters) above the surrounding landscape and a mile (1.6 kilometers) above sea level, is the world’s greatest example of columnar jointing, or fused pillars of volcanic rock created from subterranean lava.

Devils Tower, established in 1906, was the first national monument featured in the 1977 film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

SOURCE | AP