Fall kills climber and leaves partner stranded at Devils Tower in Wyoming

HULETT, Wyoming (AP) — A climber fell to his death while rappelling down Devils Tower, leaving his partner without a rope on the wall of the geologic formation in Wyoming.

The trapped climber was rescued unharmed after calling for help Sunday evening, Doug Crossen, director of Devils Tower National Monument, said Wednesday.

The death of 21-year-old Stewart Phillip Porter of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Sunday was the seventh fatal climbing accident in the park’s 118-year history. About 6,000 people scale the rock formation each year.

The two were climbing a relatively easy route called El Cracko Diablo. They had reached the top of the tower and were on their way back when Porter fell.

How the fall occurred is unknown. The accident is still being investigated, Crossen said.

With its steep walls rising nearly 265 meters above the surrounding landscape and 1.6 kilometers above sea level, Devils Tower is the world’s largest example of columnar formations – fused columns of igneous rock created by underground magma.

Built in 1906, Devils Tower was the first national monument and featured in the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.