Michael Reardon Accident?

[billcoe]

"13/07/2007 23:23:33

 

A major search operation for an American man who fell 70 feet into the sea off the Kerry coast is winding down for the night and due to resume at first light The missing man is 32 year old Michael Reardon, from Connecticut... one of the world's leading Free Soloists...that is... rock climbers who climb without the aid of any safety equpment. He and a friend had just climbed the scenic spot Wireless Point, on the north side of Valentia Island, when Mr Reardon slipped into the water... aplunge of 70 feet. Mr Reardon is also a well known filmmaker and writer in the US."

 

link

[matt_warfield]

I thought he was from CA. Otherwise, sounds like him. And I thought he was older than 32.

 

I checked this and he is 32, lives in CA but was born in the Northeast, and was on a climbing trip to Ireland. Fingers crossed...

Edited July 14, 2007 by matt_warfield

[kevbone]

Lame.....hope his family is doing alright. I feel for his daughter.

[Raindawg]

Wow.....are you telling me if you climb without a rope there is chance you could fall? Wow......you play with the bull....you will get the horns....

 

Dude....lighten up...there's a potential tragedy here.

[ashw_justin]

To 'Life Without Limits.' I bet every one of those climbs felt f*cking awesome.

 

[Cobra_Commander]

you play with the bull....you will get the horns....

 

Remember to say that when you pull on that choss on se corner!

[MountaingirlBC]

shitty... went to one of his presentations last year and exchanged a few emails. Gotta be impressed by the balls and athleticism but i could never reconcile it with his responsibilities as a father for reasons that are all to obvious now. Very sad.

[David Trippett]

Copied from RC.com.....

 

 

LINK

 

"Missing climber was struck by a wave"

http://www.rte.ie/...2007/0714/kerry.html - Saturday, 14 July 2007 13:54

 

A friend of the climber missing off Valentia Island has confirmed that the man is 36-year-old Michael Reardon, who was set to return to the United States today.

 

Con Moriarty, whose house Mr Reardon was staying in, said the famous climber was just standing on a ledge, west of Valentia Coast Guard Station when he was hit by a wave and then slipped.

 

He had completed a short climb just before he was struck by a wave. The alarm was raised shortly after 5pm yesterday.

 

 

Mr Moriarty said he was unable to get himself out of the sea. Mr Reardon had spent the last month in Ireland with a photographer, who was taking pictures of Mr Reardon climbing for an US magazine.

 

Mr Reardon's wife Marci and his 13-year-old daughter are on their way to Ireland and are set to arrive here tomorrow morning.

 

He is understood to be one of the leading free solo climbers in the world.

 

http://www.iht.com/...-Ireland-Climber.php - Published: July 14, 2007

 

Moriarty said Reardon had just finished a climb on Friday and was standing on a ledge when he was knocked into the sea by a "rogue wave" and was carried out beyond the surf line.

 

"He vanished from a standing position as opposed to a climbing one," Moriarty said.

 

http://news.sky.com/...0200-1275216,00.html - Updated: 11:25, Saturday July 14, 2007

 

Irish coastguards are searching for a world-famous American rock climber thought to have been swept off a cliff into the sea.

....

A fellow climber raised the alarm after seeing the American being swept from rocks north of Valentia Island, County Kerry.

 

Valentia Island coastguard John Falvey told Sky News it appeared the man was hit by a wave at 5pm on Friday while climbing a cliff on the north of the island.

 

[XXX]

shitty... went to one of his presentations last year and exchanged a few emails. Gotta be impressed by the balls and athleticism but i could never reconcile it with his responsibilities as a father for reasons that are all to obvious now. Very sad.

 

Yup I am impressed. But really if your a husband and father how can you justify such actions? Seems reckless to me.

[soulreaper]

"Wow.....are you telling me if you climb without a rope there is chance you could fall? Wow......you play with the bull....you will get the horns...."

 

Check your facts and shut the fuck up, douche-bag.

 

"Mr Reardon had been walking along the top of a cliff at Dohilla when he slipped on some heavy kelp and was unable to regain his footing. He plunged some 75ft into the sea below. The alarm was raised by his fellow climbers."

 

"Moriarty said Reardon had just finished a climb on Friday and was standing on a ledge when he was knocked into the sea by a "rogue wave" and was carried out beyond the surf line.

 

"He vanished from a standing position as opposed to a climbing one," Moriarty said."

 

-http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=252857

 

[kevbone]

Does anyone know what really happened. I have heard three different stories. Top of the cliff. Bottom of the cliff.....wave hit him? Slipped on the rock?

[Mike OR]

He was at bottom of rockface after scaling down cliff, standing on ledge. I know this area well and there is a really big swell there. If you are washed into the sea you have little chance of getting out at that point, and currents may take you out anyway. There is a picture on www.climbing.com by Damon Corso just before accident.

 

Hope wife and daughter are doing OK. RIP.

Edited July 16, 2007 by Mike OR

[billcoe]

Sad: Damn sad. I would never have expected this - bet Reardon didn't either.

 

I had something like this happen in Hawaii to me. Praise be that the water was warm and not debilitating or I'd still be floating over there as Shark Bait. As it was, clawing my way out of the water onto a cliff was not easy as the waves continued to slam me.

 

The wave action was reminicent of a very violent brawls I've been in. I mean, I've been in some big time fist-fights, you know, where you wake up in the hospital from a coma unable to speak after you had been duking it hard with 5 or 6 assailants, so you gut one with a knife and one of the many asshole friends coldcocks ya from the side with a beer bottle then the rest pounce and kick the shit out of your unconcious body.

 

The one thing that surprised me last Hawaii trip is how close I came to this feeling: like almost literally getting my neck broken and pretty shook up. Signifigantly different than being on sand and riding the gentle waves up and in.

 

This was AFTER being warned twice by locals about this kind of stupidity (ie, swimming off the rocks and picking Opeehie with your back to the ocean kind of thing).

 

Reardon left a big time legacy.....most unfortunate.

[high_on_rock]

Bill, if we ever share a campfire, I will supply the beer while you tell the stories. sounds like you have some good ones.

Eric

[billcoe]

Bill, if we ever share a campfire, I will supply the beer while you tell the stories. sounds like you have some good ones.

Eric

 

Thank you Sir, I accept your kind offer for beer! This particular story may take up to 3 beers to finish. Those of course would be for you so you can anesticise yourself as I drone on and on, although I can put most to sleep via voice only, without the beer!

 

May I add that anyone kind enough to buy me beer is regarded much like the tribemen of the forests would regard a person who dropped down into the jungle in a helicopter.

 

With awe, high regard (and a touch of suspicion) Especially if the beer is Black Butter Porter or similar!

 

May I also add, that I do not believe any of us though MR would check out so soon. Like Reardon, since none of us gets out of here alive, some sooner, some later, I think it's a good opprotunity for each of us to reflect on whats important: to us: and to also treat our brothers with a touch more humility, respect and kindness. As trite and as corny as that may sound.

 

There but for the grace of God go I.....

 

Thanks again Eric: now I think I'm off to the Infinite Bliss slugfest thread.

[Off_White]

Over on Supertopo, someone who lives on that island in Ireland where this happened says that the only way people survive getting washed off those cliffs is to swim out away from the rocks and wait for the lifeboat. After he was washed off a shelf at the base of the cliffs, it sounds like Reardon got sucked out by the current very rapidly, but when the boat got there (I think I'd heard it took about 15 minutes) he was nowhere to be seen.

 

If you want more info, go check out the Reardon MIA thread on Supertopo, posters include Irish locals and at least one of the friends who was there with him, along with a stack of people who knew him personally.

 

What a very sad thing.