A sad day for the climbing community

“Todd Skinner died in Yosemite 2 days ago. He was working on a new free route on Leaning Tower. There are several rumors as to what happened, but it's looking like he parted ways from his harness/rope and fell about 500'/600'.

He was one of the great ones, a world class climber, he will be missed.

Story

His website”

“I read this at work. Rest in Peace.”

“Doing what he loved, that's not a bad thing.

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."
Helen Keller”

“Good one Foam...I agree, if you can die doing what you really like (let it go guys....) that is truly great.
I am a firm believer in there is nothing sadder than dying and on your deathbed saying..'Wow, I am sorry I didn't try ( )."”

“Locking 'biner and rappel device still on the rope? Wow! There will be some serious questions here.

BTW, this will raise some serious questions about the use and inspection of belay loops.”

“The sfgate.com story this morning said the rope loop broke. I'm not a climber, so that doesn't mean anything to me, other than the "rope" and "broke" parts. They said he was a really personable guy who did a lot of inspirational speaking. Bummer....”

“What we are hearing is his harness broke. This is unheard of in the business. We have tested harnesses that were 16 years old and they broke within 15%/20% of their rated strength. That was testing our own harnesses though. The obvious weak link is the belay loop, but even they have a breaking strength of well over 5000lb. To have a failure without a shock load is really strange.

Todd one of the safest and most careful climbers I have ever seen. I never had the privilege to climb on his rope, but we had climbed side by side on a couple occasions. He didn't take unnecessary risks and he was methodical about his rope work.

My prayers go out to his wife and children.”

“This is the first I have heard about the rope breaking.....another extremely rare event.

We will have to wait for the investigation to see what happened.”

“SAN FRANCISCO - A friend who's scaled peaks with renowned rock climber Todd Skinner says he sometimes used gear beyond its life span, and fears a frayed climbing harness strap may have snapped, causing him to plunge to his death in Yosemite National Park.

It will take authorities days - possibly weeks - to officially determine why Skinner, 47, fell 500 feet to his death Monday while attempting to pioneer a new route up Leaning Tower, an imposing rock face near Bridalveil Fall, the famous waterfall near the entrance to Yosemite Valley.

As Skinner lowered himself down the rock wall, a nylon loop attaching his harness to the rope broke, and he fell, hitting the side of the mountain, said his close friend Paul Piana, who received an emotional call from Skinner's climbing partner, Jim Hewitt, on Monday afternoon.

"Jim told me it was some equipment that was too worn, which makes it really tragic," Piana said. "Todd and I have contributed to the design and tested a lot of equipment, so we have a lot of faith in its durability. Sometimes maybe because of that, you become a little too complacent."

Rest of story
last edited: 10/26/06 9:54:27 AM”

“mtnsteve..my thoughts are with you. It is always hard to loose someone you know, admire and respect...regardless if you are close to them. It is amazing how people effect our lives, even in the smalles ways.

Foam..I loved that quote. It is something I have had a hard lesson learing. I like staying in my box where it is safe and secure. I hate taking risk but when I have is when I've had the most rewarding experiences of my life!”

“peace to Todd and his family.”

“:( Sending positive energy to his family, hope they will appreciate he died doing what he loved doing & that will lessen the pain somewhat.

I was just emailing with someone about planning a Yosemite winter camping trip for Dec., it will be hard to look up at the walls & not remember the loss.”

“If he was rappeling another possibility is the his sling to which the 'biner and belay device were attached (at eye level) came apart.

Did he have a prussik on, I wonder?

It's pretty weird.”

“Gravity is 33 feet per second squared....still.”

“sad story. even the great ones must fall.”

“An update on Todd's accident.

It appears that his belay loop did not break, but the swami failed first, then the shock load broke the leg loops. This is not official, but I got it from a very reliable source familiar with the investigation.

We tend to think of the belay loop as the weak link in this type of harness, but it is actually the point that the belay loop rubs on that can get the most wear. It would seem the the leg loops would be the first point of wear, but I'm told that was not the case in this accident. That may be clarified when the report is made public.

Todd was a very safety conscious climber, but he did have a tendency to use his gear past the point many would consider prudent. Perhaps his death may save someone else....I hope so.

Check your gear. When in doubt, retire it.”