Teenage Climbers Killed at Red River Gorge

Several tragic climbing accidents occurred in the past month.

On Saturday, October 11, 49-year-old doctor Amy Ruth Stine from Pittsburgh was killed in a leader fall at Seneca Rocks, a popular and historic climbing area in West Virginia, when some gear pulled. She flipped upside down, landing on her head and dying instantly.

Also in early October, William Eldridge, 57, from Staten Island, New York, was killed at the Shawangunks Mohonk Preserve in a similar accident. He was 40 feet up a route, slipped and slid down the cliff. Unfortunately he bounced off a ledge, and like Ms. Stine, flipped upside down, striking his head on a rock at the base. Climber Jannette Pazer reported, “The leader put in a piece 10 feet up, and then, because it was easy ground, continued 20 feet up beyond it. He was a very experienced climber who probably didn't think he needed to put in lots of gear on easy ground, and because he was out of sight, his partner doesn't know why he fell. But because of the runout, it was a groundfall.”

Now this last Monday, November 3, a pair of teenage rock climbers died in a tragic fall at the Red River Gorge, one of the nation’s premier sport climbing areas, in eastern Kentucky. Benjamin E. Strohmeier, 18, and his climbing partner Laura Fletcher, 18, fell off a route near Torrent Falls after a weathered rappel sling broke. While details are still sketchy, it appears that Strohmeier was lowering Fletcher. Both of their weights were loaded onto the sling since he was clipped into it rather than the anchor itself. The sling broke, dropping them 60 feet. She landed at the base while he fell over another ledge below. The bodies were found the next afternoon by concerned friends.

John May with the Wolfe County Search and Rescue told reporters that the webbing on an anchor bolt “essentially tore in half, and as a result the climbers fell.” Webbing and a rappel ring were found at the cliff base as well as on the cliff. Shannon Stuart-Smith, founder of the Red River Gorge Climber's Coalition, told the Lexington Herald-Reader that the webbing could be 10 to 15 years old. She also noted that these are the first climber fatalities at the Red according to Forest Service records. Other climbing-related deaths were by people scrambling without gear or sport rappelling.

It’s all freaking tragic. Every time we go climbing we need to remember that it’s dangerous and we’re putting ourselves in harm’s way. That is the reason why I emphasize climbing safety on this website. Safe climbing is all about personal responsibility and taking care of ourselves on the rock. The lessons from these accidents are simple: always wear a helmet; place lots of gear on routes; and never ever trust your life to a single anchor or sling.

Photo above: Ben Strohmeier was killed in a climbing accident at Red River Gorge.
Photo courtesy Ben Strohmeier/Photobucket.