A Californian woman has died after a climbing accident in Nevada’s Red Rock . Micah Manalese was attempting to rappel down the popular Community Pillar route when she fell more than 100ft / 30.5m, sustaining multiple serious injuries.
, were in the midst another rescue operation at the time and diverted in the hope of saving the 30-year-old, but she succumbed to her injuries at the scene. Married couple Joe and Carey de Luca had been descending the Cat in the Hat route, roughly 100 yards / 91m away from the scene of the fatal accident. While rappelling, their with two friends’ ropes, leaving all four stuck.
After hours trying to find a solution they called search and rescue and a team began climbing up to them. Rescue teams had planned to stay with the four to help them rappel down without further incident when Joe heard a scream and witnessed Manalese fall down the canyon. “I saw her hit (the cliff) three times, and then her body stopped,” Joe told .
“It was evident to me that the chance of life was zero, or at least very low if we didn't do something quickly.” The decision was taken to extract all four by helicopter, so that search and rescue could quickly get to the site of Manalese's fall but when they reached her she was non-responsive, having sustained multiple injuries. have yet to identify the cause of Manalese's fall or any specific circumstances surrounding the accident.
“Micah was full of life, very brave and fearless, a true daredevil,” friend and .
