A rock climber witnesses another climber’s deadly fall on El Cajon Mountain. NBC 7’s Amber Frias has the story.
Brandon Huang has been rock climbing for the past year and a half.
“[It’s full of] adrenaline, adventure, kind of thing," said Huang. It was that exact feeling he was out looking for with his friends during his climb on Sunday at El Cajon Mountain.
Unfortunately, it's not one he found.
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“We were on our second rappel of the day, on the top of the Triton Tower and we see this guy he has no rope, he has a harness, and backpack, but no rope,” said Huang. "And I point him out to my partner and say, ‘hey there’s a guy free soloing.’ Nice.”
Free soloing is rock climbing that is done without protective equipment.
The man, who was climbing alone, was on a route adjacent to the one Huang was on. Huang said he had just made it to the base of the wall when he witnessed a horrible tragedy.
“All of a sudden I hear tumbling noises where he's falling and eventually he hits the ground,” said Huang.
The man had fallen approximately 200 feet.
Huang said, along with three other mountaineers who had also witnessed the fall, he rushed over to the man. He said the man was unresponsive and had obvious signs of head trauma.
“I pulled out my satellite phone and called SOS,” said Huang.
About 45 minutes later, a sheriff’s helicopter crew used a hoist to lower a paramedic to the area where the man landed. But due to the rough terrain in the area, they were unable to retrieve the body until the next day.
The man was identified as 22-year-old Nathaniel Takatsuno. Huang said Takatsuno had recently started a new job at UCSD as a research assistant.
While he didn’t know him personally, he said his death is a huge loss for the entire community and a good reminder about the risks involved in the sport.
“Scaling a sheer rock face is super cool and we always come out there and have a lot of fun but then you see this sort of thing happen and it's, you know, a horrifying reminder that rock is very unforgiving,” Huang said.