Two climbers that fell to their death while climbing El Capitan inside Yosemite National Park have been identified.
Jason Wells, 46, of Boulder, Colorado, and Tim Klein, 42, of Palmdale, California, were climbing the Freeblast Route when the accident occurred around 8:15 a.m.
Both climbers were very experienced and had climbed the mountain multiple times.
“They were part of a very small, elite group of people who could do what they did,” said Brady Robinson, the executive director of the Access Fund, an organization that seeks to protect climbing areas in the United States. “And they weren’t trying to prove anything — they just loved it.”
Park rangers and search and rescue staff responded to El Capitan after they received multiple 911 calls.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing and follows a death in the park earlier last month that occurred on May 21 when a hiker fell from Half Dome during a thunderstorm.
