Climbing partners of Tyler Gordon, the 22-year-old rock climber who fell 200 feet to his death in Yosemite National Park last May, present during his fall from聽El Capitan鈥檚 Nose, released information on what led to the accident, according to 颈苍听Rock and Ice.
Gordon (son of Doug Gordon, who drown on a kayaking trip in 1998) was on a 12-month road trip through Europe and the United States聽when he visited Yosemite. On May 22, he聽paused to admire the view from the ledge of Camp 6, Rock & Ice reported.
Cletis聽Blum聽was leading the Changing Corners pitch above Gordon and their other climbing partners. In a blog post, Blum聽wrote that the next thing they knew, Gordon was falling,聽according to聽Rock and Ice. 鈥淏ut there was nothing to hold him,鈥澛爓rote Blum.
Friends who were nearby, including Blum and climbing partner Ryan聽Dilts,聽said that Gordon may have thought he was still clipped into the anchor聽or聽Grigri he鈥檇 used to ascend the fixed rope to Camp 6. Gordon fell 20 feet to the next ledge, then farther down to the Camp 5 ledge. Although Blum, who is trained as a聽Wilderness First Responder,聽was able to reach him quickly, attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
UPDATE: September 24, 10:45 MDT: A previous version of this article did not include information about Doug Gordon.