On Friday afternoon, July 10, a climber was killed after slipping and fallling over 500 feet while descending 14,130-foot Capitol Peak in central Colorado. The climber, 47-year-old Jimi Raymond Flowers, the U.S. Paralympic swim coach from Colorado Springs, had successfully summited the mountain, the hardest and most rugged of Colorado’s 55 Fourteeners or mountains above 14,000 feet high.

While descending rocky terrain at about 13,000 feet on an exposed ridge between K2, a spur point northeast of Capitol Peak, and 13,300-foot Mount Daly, Flowers apparently slipped on a snow patch. Doug Ingram, his climbing partner and USOC director of international games, watched him slide downward at a high speed, bumping over cliff bands and snow-filled couloirs before stopping at 12,500 feet among boulders. Adam Crider with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s office said, “He literally slipped and fell and couldn’t catch himself. Most climbing accidents occur during descent because climbers are fatigued and have a relaxed mindset.”

Doug Ingram called his wife on a cell phone at 2:45 p.m. from the mountain and she alerted Mountain Rescue Aspen. The rescue team was ferried by a Flight for Life helicopter and dropped off one at a time on a flat area a mile-and-a-half from the accident site. A paramedic reached Flowers at 6:25 p.m. and began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) even though Mr. Flowers was not breathing and had no pulse. Shortly afterward CPR ceased, he was prounounced dead, and the operation became a recovery effort. The partner was flown out by helicopter, while three rescuers bivouacked near the body.

On Saturday, July 11, at 6 a.m., Mr. Flower’s body was evacuated by a cable attached to a hovering helicopter. He was transported to a landing sport where he was put into the helicopter and taken to Aspen Valley Hospital.

The death of Jimi Flowers, survived by his wife Sue and two young children, hits hard at the United States Olympic Committee and the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. USOC acting CEO Stephanie Streeter said today, “Jimi was an incredible coach who developed numerous Olympic and Paralympic champions. He was passionate about swimming, dedicated to helping others and was such an inspiration to athletes, colleagues, and all who knew him.”

Melissa Stockwell, a U.S. Paralympic swimmer who lost a leg in a roadside bombing in Iraq, told The Denver Post, “He's one of the greatest men I've ever known. He had a way of believing in people. My husband said he was a walking exclamation point. You couldn't be around him and not laugh or smile.”

Capitol Peak is often considered Colorado’s toughest Fourteener. It stands alone on the northwest edge of the Elk Range west of Aspen. The mountain is tough even by its easiest route with lots of scrambling on rocky terrain and the famous 100-foot-long Knife Edge Ridge, an exposed bit of Class 4 climbing that sometimes requires a rope and steel nerves.

I haven’t been able to find out what equipment Mr. Flowers was carrying but it appears from the accident reports that he wasn’t using an ice axe, which he could have used to arrest his fall. After a heavy snow season, conditions in the Colorado Rockies are still spring-like. Lots of the high peaks are plastered with snow and ice so it would be smart to carry an ice axe and crampons to avoid this situation. I’ll keep an ear to the rock and see if I can find out any other details about the accident.

Photograph above: Morning light washes across the Knife Edge on Capitol Peak. Photograph © Stewart M. Green

John Bachar, killed last Sunday after a fall while climbing solo on Dike Wall near his home in Mammoth Lakes, California, was without a doubt one of the most influential rock climbers of the last 40 years. “He was an artist,” says his friend and photographer Dean Fidelman. “He transcended the sport.”

The extent of John’s reputation as a climber is evidenced by news of his death and subsequent obituaries appearing in many major American newspapers as well as media and newspapers around the world. Three of the best obituaries appeared in The New York Times, parent company of About.com, The Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian in London.

This trio of articles about John Bachar, unlike so many articles in the mainstream media, get the facts right about John and the dicey sort of climbing that he did. After reading them, please post comments about John Bachar—his climbing, his life, and how he influenced you—below in the comments section.

Read John Bachar’s obituaries:
New York Times: John Bachar, Rock Climber, Dies at 51; Daredevil with Uncompromising Style
Los Angeles Times: John Bachar Dies at 52; Rock Climber Specialized in Free-Solo Ventures
The Guardian: John Bachar

Photograph: John Bachar atop a Joshua Tree cliff after another free-solo climb. Photograph courtesy Karl Baba/PeakLightImages.com (Thanks Karl for the use of your great images of John!)

Sunday’s death of John Bachar is playing out in a very public forum, particularly on the SuperTopo website in California. So many of John’s friends and admirers have written posts in shock and disbelief that one of America’s climbing legends, a man who climbed with control, strength, and purity, could fall and die.

The one thread on SuperTopo, however, that is most poignant and moving was started by John Bachar’s young son Tyrus. On Sunday night at 11:22 p.m., Tyrus reached out to his father’s many friends, writing: “Dude I'm soo sad right now my dad is dead he fell of of the dike wall. I knew it was a bad idea to go soloing today. I knew it. JB 09 I LOVE YOU DAD.....” Reading that tears you apart.

Through the rest of the night, Tyrus posted several other notes. At 12:36 a.m. on July 6 he wrote, “I appreciate all of the kind words and offers to help me. If I need help I know who to call.” Four minutes later he wrote, “i miss him :(”

Many of John’s close friends and climbing partners wrote to Tyrus, offering solace and understanding to a boy who just lost his father, a boy who couldn’t sleep.

The next morning John Long wrote a long letter saying: “The last time I talked to your dad, several months ago, we were just finishing the text for the new Stonemaster book. As you probably know, your dad much preferred to climb than to write about it. But I had to have a story written by THE Stonemaster himself (your dad), or the book wouldn´t fly…. I never imagined that this book would be a testimonial for your father, for his courage, vision and uncompromising approach to life. Of course, your dad is featured on the cover - who else belongs there? Nobody but your dad, that´s who.

”Anyway, that story does say in plain and simple terms, what your dad´s climbing was about. But it doesn´t say what He was about. Tyrus, he was about you. Any friend that talked to John had to be prepared for the conversation to end up about you, because that´s where it was going to go. Never mind some stupid book or story—John Bachar´s life never made real sense till you were born. Any friend can tell you as much."

Yesterday afternoon Kurt Smith also wrote a moving tribute to John Bacher: “Tyrus, be proud of your father and all who he touched. Be proud of your father to sticking to his guns and never taking the easy way out. Be proud of your father for all that he did to progress the sport that we all love so much. Be proud of your father for showing you so many wonderful adventures. Every time I saw him he would light up like a roman candle when he would talk about you. He loved you and was proud to have you in his life. His life was never easy and not always fun but he stood his ground and never compromised his dreams, his vision and I will always hold him in the highest regard. He did more to influence me than anyone in my life and I owe him for showing me the way and letting me try to follow in his footsteps. he was greater than a great man, he was and will always be my hero, my idol, my friend.”

The loss of John weighs heavy on all of us climbers. He was a great climber. He redefined the game. He was a friend and inspiration to so many climbers. But his loss is most acute for his family, particularly for his son Tyrus. Our hopes and prayers and best wishes are with him now and in the future.

Photographs: Top: An iconic image of John Bachar soloing “On the Lamb” at Tuolumne Meadows that was used on a Boreal poster. Bottom: John Bachar relaxing on Joshua Tree granite. Photographs courtesy John Bachar Collection and Karl Baba

What do you think about John Bachar's death? Do you have any stories about John? I welcome your comments below.

Jimmy Dunn called me this morning at 6:30 and gave me the bad news that John Bachar was killed after he fell from an 80-foot route while free-soloing on California granite yesterday. The 51-year-old Bachar was found unresponsive on July 5 at the base of Dike Wall, one of his favorite climbing areas near his home in Mammoth Lakes, California. He was climbing alone and without a rope at the time. Paramedics transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. John, the owner and designer of Acopa Shoes, leaves behind a son Tyrus.

John Bachar was simply the greatest and best climber of my generation. John redefined the limits of the possible with his audacious climbs, both with and without a rope, and his uncompromising ethics.

John’s climbing achievements are many. He put up the first 5.12 route in Yosemite Valley and in 1978 worked on the the iconic Midnight Lightning boulder problem in Camp 4 with Ron Kauk, who claimed the first ascent. With Peter Croft in 1986, he linked The Nose of El Capitan and the Northwest Face of Half Dome in 14 hours. In 1981 Bachar established with Dave Yerian the landmark route Bachar-Yerian (5.11c), a 500-foot free climb in Tuolumne Meadows that was bolted on the lead with a mere 13 bolts. John Bachar was an outspoken critic of rappel-bolted routes, which became popular in the 1980s, feeling that they took a lot of the adventure out of climbing.

John Bachar was well known for his many solo climbs over the years. In Yosemite he soloed New Dimensions, The Nabisco Wall, and The Moratorium, all 5.11s, in the 1980s. He also regularly soloed lots of routes at Joshua Tree, linking as many as 100 in a day.

Since John’s death yesterday many climbers and friends have posted comments and thoughts on the SuperTopo forum. John Long, a long-time friend and himself a great climber, wrote: “I remember driving all the way out to Fort Collins in the early 1970s to meet JB and go on a grand bouldering tour and try and pick off as many Gill problems as we could…. Bachar could basically climb anything back then, and his free soloing was off the charts. He was the best, and anyone who saw him on the sharp end knew they were watching something rare, a real trad master.”

Pat Ament noted: “John was my beloved friend. He was the next generation, and its star. He treated me respectfully and as a friend. We had bouldered already for years and done climbs, when in 1975 we climbed New Dimensions together. In his presence I simply climbed better. He honestly told me he had never seen anyone climb that final crux pitch so easily. But then I had a rope, and he had soloed it, which was a bit beyond my imagination.”

These days I only saw John at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, where I would stop by the Acopa booth and talk to him about climbing and rock shoes and the latest news. He was always accommodating and friendly, sometimes giving a new pair of shoes to try out. I looked forward to seeing him at the next show in a couple weeks. John, you’re going to be missed.

Photographs: The great John Bachar at Joshua Tree National Park in 2006. Photographs courtesy Karl Baba