Just referencing this account from SuperTopo. Pretty sad. I wish the climbers who witnessed this the best in dealing with what they saw :-/

Death on the NW Face of Half Dome

====Edit August 26====
Hearing that others thought the OP was in poor taste, I guess I didn't communicate clearly enough my intention with it from the above comment. I was uncertain about the post and have more than mixed feelings about it, so I was pretty vague & basic in contextualizing the link.

So for the record:

My general intention was just to bring attention to the climbers' report that would be more informative than the initial news articles, since it seemed wrong to characterize this tragedy as another "tourist on the cables" as I saw some people doing, and provide a forum for incoming news (thanks to you who have added informative links).

My main intent was that since the climbers' experience was pretty horrifying and the SuperTopo community was actively offering support in PMs and comments to their post, I figured some SPers would want to reach out in support as those on the Taco are doing.

Both of these somewhat relate to my feelings & experience with Mt Shasta & Tom.

Sadly this one sounds very likely to be a suicide, especially from the accounts of the witness climbers.

I'm not sure how the climbers would determine that. Seems to me only the people on top could have an indication, of those present.

If it was an accident, that's obviously bad enough for all involved and left behind. If a suicide, it's spectacularly selfish and un-thinking to the SAR crews (and potentially lethal to other climbers of course) who have to deal with the aftermath. Sad in any case.

sharperblue wrote: If a suicide, it's spectacularly selfish and un-thinking to the SAR crews (and potentially lethal to other climbers of course) who have to deal with the aftermath.

Concur 100%!

Thank you for posting your view.

mrchad9 wrote:I'm not sure how the climbers would determine that. Seems to me only the people on top could have an indication, of those present.

The patterns of the screaming seemed pretty indicative, but it is still officially speculation. It didn't sound like there were any witnesses on top.

PellucidWombat wrote:

mrchad9 wrote:I'm not sure how the climbers would determine that. Seems to me only the people on top could have an indication, of those present.

The patterns of the screaming seemed pretty indicative, but it is still officially speculation. It didn't sound like there were any witnesses on top.

How would you determine suicide, accident, or murder based on the screaming pattern? How does each sound?

The man has been identified as Ryan Leeder, 23, of Los Gatos. RIP.

Source.

They have not determined that this is a suicide yet. I suppose a glimspe into his personal life will yield some clues; was he in a good place mentally/emotionally or not.

Seems like he just fell...

According to the news article, the weather was perfect and the skies crystal clear.

There must be more than meets the eye. In the article it said that nobody had reported the young man as being missing.

Like the people who were swept away to their deaths earlier this month in Yosemite, regardless if their is stupidty involved or even if it was suicide, it's very sad. In this case, I would suggest that even if it were suicide and very selfish, that I'm sure many people once they get to that point, they still might have some type of change within them during the act. The fact their was screaming could be very meaningless. I agree that the act of suicide is very selfish and that it at times put innocent people in bad siuations. But, I can't imagine the torment the person was going through that lead them to that point. If a person is "off" to the point that they are willing to take their own life, I doubt seriously, they are weighing their actions too much as to the affect it will have on others. I hope it comes out this was some type of a very bad accident/misfortune, not a suicide and I hope the relatives and friends are doing as well as they can.

A bit off the line here, but if you are interested in seeing a documentary that does a pretty good job of shining a light on the mindset of those who do commit (or attempt to commit) suicide you should watch The Bridge. One of the 'survivors' talks about jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and immediately wishing that he hadn't....You can't help but walk away from the movie feeling that 1) most of the people who want to commit suicide have a chemical imbalance causing their depression and 2) if someone wants to die, there is very little we can do to stop them.....

huntersthompson wrote:A bit off the line here, but if you are interested in seeing a documentary that does a pretty good job of shining a light on the mindset of those who do commit (or attempt to commit) suicide you should watch The Bridge. One of the 'survivors' talks about jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and immediately wishing that he hadn't....You can't help but walk away from the movie feeling that 1) most of the people who want to commit suicide have a chemical imbalance causing their depression and 2) if someone wants to die, there is very little we can do to stop them.....

That was a very disturbing show, and that is why the fact there was screaming during the fall is pretty meaningless. There is now an I.D. of the man but there isn't any information about him. http://www.ksbw.com/news/28963303/detail.html

Marmaduke wrote:

huntersthompson wrote:A bit off the line here, but if you are interested in seeing a documentary that does a pretty good job of shining a light on the mindset of those who do commit (or attempt to commit) suicide you should watch The Bridge. One of the 'survivors' talks about jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and immediately wishing that he hadn't....You can't help but walk away from the movie feeling that 1) most of the people who want to commit suicide have a chemical imbalance causing their depression and 2) if someone wants to die, there is very little we can do to stop them.....

That was a very disturbing show, and that is why the fact there was screaming during the fall is pretty meaningless. There is now an I.D. of the man but there isn't any information about him. http://www.ksbw.com/news/28963303/detail.html

Marmaduke....totally agree...absolutely disturbing and terrifically depressing....