On February 2, Matthew Aaron Richard (27) lost his life in a climbing accident at the Wonder Wall, a popular area behind a swimming pool complex near the canyon’s entrance. That evening, a few dozen climbers were barbecuing at the base, and Matt expressed a desire to climb. He and a partner planned to link the first two pitches of the popular Ramsey’s Shenanigans (10a) with the last pitch of Evil Shenanigans (10). This entailed three pitches, done as a single 70-meter pitch.

Matt borrowed a new 80-meter rope with a very defined middle mark. He started climbing, with his headlamp illuminating the way. He reached the summit anchors, clipped in direct with his PAS, and yelled down that he would rappel as it had started to rain. He gave the command to take him off belay.

His partner, who was still on the ground, untied and Matt pulled the rope up. From below, even though it was dark, I and others could see Matt setting up a rappel. He started to rappel, cleaning draws. The descent would involve three short rappels. Matt’s next set of anchors would have been on a ledge at the top of the second pitch. But we do not know exactly what his plan was.

Around 8:50 p.m., Matt’s partner heard something from above and caught sight of Matt’s falling body. He yelled, “Charlie, Charlie, call 911!” Those who had medical training rushed over while I contacted emergency services. Matt’s friends worked tirelessly to bring him back to life. Rescue volunteers joined the effort but, unfortunately, nothing could be done.

ANALYSIS

Prior to climbing, a friend expressed concern, having earlier seen Matt enjoy an alcoholic beverage. Matt’s climbing partner was sober. After some discussion, Matt assured the concerned party and his partner that he had not consumed much alcohol and was feeling very safe to climb. I personally spoke with both climbers to make sure all was safe. I did not witness Matt in a concerning state of inebriation.

After inspection, we found that one end of the rope had a stopper knot and the other did not. The rope was on the ground and undamaged. A single strand was threaded through an ATC-style device in rappel mode. Matt had a third hand backup attached to both his harness and the single rope strand. He had a PAS and a pre-rigged quad (two locking carabiners and one non-locker) clipped to his harness.

Matt’s rappel system was not closed. His autoblock backed up the rappel, but would not have prevented him from rappelling off the unknotted end of the rope.

We can assume Matt didn’t take note of the middle mark and probably thought he had pulled enough rope through the anchor for both ends to be on the ledge atop the second pitch. It was raining, it was dark, and worse weather was on the way. The anchor stance would have been uncomfortable. He’d have seen his friends having fun below. Any of these factors may have caused him to speed up and make a mistake. (Source: Charlie Hund. A comprehensive report is available through the ANAC website.)