JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK (KCBS) — A woman fell to her death while rock climbing at Joshua Tree National Park last weekend, officials announced on Tuesday.
The victim, 51-year-old Tina Lynn Fiori of Riverside County, was climbing in the Sheep Pass Area of the park on Saturday when the fatal fall occurred. Park officials said there were no signs of foul play, but did not release any further details about the incident and said the cause is unknown.
The Palm Spring Desert Sun spoke to a witness who said Fiori fell because her safety rope was attached to a compromised safety mechanism.
The paper reported that Fiori was with a group celebrating a friends' 2,000th climb at Joshua Tree National Park. They spent the day climbing in the area and were on a route called "Turkey Terror," when the deadly fall occurred.
According to the witness, 55-year-old Matt Himmelstein who was one of the three people in Fiori's group, they used a climbing method called "top roping" which involves securing a rope to some type of anchor system at the top of the climb, which serves as a safety mechanism which supports the climber's weight if they fall.
Fiori ran her rope through nylon webbing that a previous hiker had left behind, which was attached to a permanent anchor at the top of the climb.
Himmelstein told the paper he wasn't sure how long the webbing had been there but noted it was "compromised" and "that's what failed." He added that it's not "uncommon" for climbers to use old webbing from a previous climber, but it is done less frequently at Joshua Tree.
Once Fiori leaned back to repel down the cliff, the rope gave way and caused her to fall 80 feet to her death.
"Our hearts go out to Ms. Fiori's family and friends during this extremely painful time," park superintendent David Smith said.
This is the second climbing fatality at Joshua National Park this year after a teacher from San Diego died in a January accident.
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