A 21-year-old Wisconsin rock climber fell to his death while rappelling a national monument in Wyoming.
On Sunday, shortly before 8 p.m., Stewart Phillip Porter from Eau Claire was rappelling the second pitch of El Cracko Diablo on Devils Tower and went careening downward, according to the National Park Service.
He sustained major injuries and was declared dead at the scene by paramedics, the park service said. Porter’s partner also was injured in the fall and became stranded but was later rescued from the wall of the Tower.
Porter’s family couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declared Devils Tower as America’s first national monument in 1906 . It rises 1,267 feet above Belle Fourche River, 5,112 above sea level, and stands 867 feet from summit to base. The park service said the Tower was formed about 50 million years ago and the erosion that exposed the Tower likely took place between 5 million and 10 million years ago.
Devils Tower Superintendent Doug Crossen told Cowboy State Daily that authorities received a call about the fall around 8 p.m. and two local law enforcement officers responded immediately but knew they’d need assistance from the local climbing community.