A group of ‘traumatized’ mountaineers witnessed the horrifying fall of a 22-year-old rock climber – who plummeted 200 feet to his death – while climbing San Diego’s El Cajon Mountain on Sunday.
Witnesses say the climber, whose name has not been released, had been ‘free soloing’ – rock climbing that is done without the use of a rope or protective equipment – just before noon when the tragedy occurred.
A group of climbers propelled over to help the young victim but it was too late. When search and rescue arrived the climber was pronounced dead.
James Faerber said he was ‘traumatized’ witnessing the man fall to his death off the popular mountain, known as El Capitan or El Cap, that has a summit of 3,677 feet.
‘I’ve been through a huge range of emotions for sure,’ Faerber told the San Diego-Tribune.
On Monday, crews walked the hazardous terrain to recover the victim’s remains, hiking two hours on foot, as a helicopter was in the air assisting in the recovery mission
Search and rescue teams had a difficult time retrieving the body due to the treacherous terrain.
‘By the time we were able to get to where the climber was, it’s about 2,500 feet in elevation, and it’s about a two-hour hike to get to the climber. So it made yesterday’s recovery impossible,’ Lt. Ruben Medina with San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said.
Another obstacle the crew was facing, the sheriff said, was nightfall. The darkness complicated getting back down the mountain.
On Monday, crews hiked the hazardous terrain to recover the victim’s remains, located near the Lakeside area of the mountain, as a helicopter was in the air assisting in the recovery mission.
The rock climber was rescued more than 12 hours after he fell from the mountainside.
The cause of the young man’s fall remains unknown and is being investigated.
Billy Ortiz, who has lived near El Cajon for 63 years, told CBS 8 that the area where the hiker was found is a very ‘treacherous’ and known as ‘the Wedge,’ an area that rock climbers love to climb.
‘It goes up to the left and then the right, and then there’s an overhang,’ Ortiz said.
Ortiz had his camera focused on the recovery mission as the search and rescue crews recovered the climber’s body from the southside of the mountain.
A helicopter is seen flying over the treacherous terrain en route to the 22-year-old man that tragically fell to his death on Sunday just before noon
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department received a call about the climber’s fall from El Cajon Mountain in the afternoon on Sunday, Dec. 4
Dachel Fohne, a friend of the deceased, said she learned about a fatality on the mountain and then discovered it was her climbing partner, Fox5 SanDiego.
‘I just didn’t want to believe it, and I still don’t want to believe it,’ she said.
Before the tragic news, Fohne had left a note on the windshield of her friend’s car that had been sitting in the parking lot, at the base of mountain.
‘I waited until 5pm for you,’ she wrote. ‘Hit me up when you are safe. Text me anytime.’
Dachel Fohne, a friend of the deceased, left a note on the windshield of her friend’s car that had been sitting in the parking lot, at the base of mountain. ‘I waited until 5pm for you,’ she wrote. ‘Hit me up when you are safe. Text me anytime’
Fohne, known as ‘Adventure Tick’ on Instagram, expressed her devastation on the tragic loss in a recent post, and her gratitude for those who tried to help. ‘My heart hurts so much,’ she wrote. ‘If you were one of those climbers who tried to help, thank you for your kindness. Calling the ranger station this morning to hear that a climber has fallen, come to find, a close friend… It’s an empty, helpless feeling’
Fohne – known as ‘Adventure Tick’ on Instagram – expressed her devastation on the tragic loss in a recent post, and her gratitude for those who tried to help.
‘My heart hurts so much,’ she wrote.
‘If you were one of those climbers who tried to help, thank you for your kindness. Calling the ranger station this morning to hear that a climber has fallen, come to find, a close friend… It’s an empty, helpless feeling.’
She said that she and her climbing buddy were both ‘loners’ who had both connected over their love of the mountain and the magic feeling it both brought them.