A 22-year-old climber died after falling from a route she was traversing in Clear Creek County, Colorado, authorities said.
Maya Humeau, a climber and the daughter of Olympic athletes, died on Tuesday after falling 100 feet from the Black Wall on Mount Spalding, according to KCNC. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office said a man who was climbing with Ms Humeau called 911 after the accident. Sheriff's deputies, the Alpine Rescue Team, and Flight for Life Colorado responded to the scene.
Initial incident reports suggest Ms Humeau was rappelling down the face of the wall when she fell. She was reportedly on a ledge and was not secured to a wall at the time of the fall, Alpine Rescue official Dawn Wilson told CBS News.
During rappels and ascents, it is not uncommon for climbers to have to "unclip" from walls in order to clear ledges. It is not always possible for equipment to be securely bolted into certain sections of a wall, requiring climbers to scramble while unclipped. While many climbers are skilled enough to traverse these routes, there is always risk involved, regardless of skill level.
Ms Humeau's last Instagram post showed her climbing a route at Longs Peak in Colorado.
Her parents, Dana Chladek and Thierry Humeau, told KDVR that they had been Olympic athletes in canoeing and kayaking, said their daughter was a senior at the University of Colorado Boulder and had an adventurous spirit.
"She was not a daredevil, but she was getting very serious about climbing," her father said.
Her mother said she was "so happy here," saying she loved "living the Colorado lifestyle."
They said that she had been successful at competitive kayaking before she took up climbing. Her interest in outdoor climbing concerned her parents, who knew the risks associated with the sport.
"We were terrified every day. We talked about it a lot, and we always mentioned to her be really careful, double, triple check everything," her mother told the broadcaster. "She died doing what she loved to do."
Earlier this month a woman died after falling approximately 900 feet from just below the summit of Capitol Peak in Colorado. The mountain is considered one of the state's most difficult to climb, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office.
Despite the well-publicised deaths that result from rock climbing, fatal accidents are still relatively rare. According to an Outdoor Industry Association report from 2018, there are approximately 5 million regular outdoor climbers in the US. Accidents in North American Climbing, a publication documenting mountaineering and climbing accidents, reported there were around 30 deaths in 2018.
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, on average 1,000 cyclists die every year, and 130,000 are injured in crashes. That number skyrockets for swimmers, with nearly 4,000 deaths on average each year. However, it should be noted that there are far more cyclists and swimmers than there are climbers.
