Saturday should have been a great day for Brad Parker. He and his girlfriend had just climbed Yosemite’s Cathedral Peak and when they reached the top, Parker asked Jainee Dial to marry him. She said yes. Only hours later, Parker was dead, falling 300 feet when he lost his balance.
According to reports, Parker (who was a veteran climber and once appeared on the cover of California Climber magazine) was climbing Matthes traverse without any ropes or climbing equipment when he lost his balance and fell. His father, Bill Parker, also a climber, believes that Parker’s death is the result of exhaustion. He told KBSW that the climb to Cathedral Peak with Dial, followed by a run to Matthes traverse, where Parker climbed on his own, may have just been too much for him. Bill Parker told KSBW that Saturday was “the happiest day of his [Brad Parker’s] life.”
Friends and family will be climbing to Cathedral Peak today to say goodbye to Parker. “it’s the only closure we’re able to get,” Bill Parker told KSBW.
CBS 5 reports that Parker’s is the second climbing death in Yosemite this year.
Image via Shutterstock
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