Veteran Rock Climber Brad Parker, 36, Dies Hours After Proposing at Yosemite National Park

August 25,2014


 
Brad Parker told his father it was "the happiest day of his life." On Saturday, the 36-year-old Northern California and veteran rock climber proposed to his girlfriend on a mountaintop at Yosemite, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports. But hours later, tragedy struck when Parker fell to his death during a climb at a nearby ridge, authorities said.
Parker and his girlfriend, Jainee Dial, hiked to the top of Cathedral Peak on Saturday afternoon where he proposed. Dial accepted, but the couple separated later that afternoon when Parker headed off by himself to climb nearby Matthes Crest. The ridge is about three miles from Cathedral Peak and friends say Parker had climbed there on several occasions.
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Parker was climbing along with without ropes on an established route when other climbers witnessed him fall about 5:45 p.m., Yosemite Park Ranger Kari Cobb said.
"I have no idea what happened on that climb. It blows me away about what happened," Jerry Dodrill, a longtime friend of Parker's, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. "I keep replaying what might have happened on what was supposed to be the best day of his life. I can visualize where he fell and it makes all of this even harder to accept."
Parker's body was recovered by park rangers via helicopter on Sunday.
Parker's death was the second climbing death in Yosemite this year, the typical average annually, Cobb said.
A resident of Sebastopol, California, Parker appeared on a cover of California Climber magazine in 2012. He also worked as a yoga instructor and was an avid surfer and mountain biker. He also enjoyed backpacking and fly fishing trips in the Sierra Nevada with his father and brother, Mat.
Parker's father said he thinks fatigue from the climb up Cathedral Peak and the run his son made to Matthes Crest may have been a factor in the fall.
"We're all so stunned," Bill Parker said. "What happened is so unbelievable."
Dodrill described Brad Parker as a very outgoing person who usually greeted people, even strangers, with not only a big smile, but a big hug as well.
"He could just interact in different circles very fluidly," Dodrill said. "No matter how bad it seems things were, he always made the day seem brighter."
About 150 people attended an impromptu vigil for Parker on Monday night in Sebastopol, Dodrill said. And the climber's father said some family and friends planned to hike to the Cathedral Peak area Tuesday.
"It's the only closure we're able to get," Bill Parker said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.