Brad Gobright
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Climbing Accident Brad Gobright Wiki, Bio, rock and ice, Age Family, Aiden Jacobson Climber

Brad Gobright Wiki

Brad Gobright was an American free solo climber. Gobright was born in Orange County, California and began climbing when he was six. He dropped out of college in 2009, working odd jobs during winter and climbing during the rest of the year.

Gobright and Mason Earle made the first free ascent of The Heart Route on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 2015. In 2016, he and Scott Bennett climbed three routes—Zodiac, The Nose and Lurking Fear—on El Capitan in 24 hours. He and Jim Reynolds set a speed record of two hours 19 minutes and 44 seconds for The Nose on El Capitan in 2017. With Alex Honnold in June 2019, he made the second free ascent of El Niño on El Capitan in fourteen-and-a-half hours.

Brad Gobright age

Gobright was 31 years old.

Brad Gobright Accident

On 27 November 2019, Gobright fell about 300 meters to his death on the El Sendero Luminoso climb at El Potrero Chico in northern Mexico. The accident happened whilst abseiling down the face of Sendero Luminoso on Potrero Chico with his partner after the pair had completed a two-day climb of the face.

 

Brad Gobright Partner Aidan Jacobson Injuries

His partner, Aidan Jacobson (26), crashed at a shorter distance and survived with injuries.

Gobright was best known for free soloing or climbing without safety equipment, but at the time the two were struggling, a technique that uses ropes.

Rappelling accidents are the most common cause of death in sports.

The two men struggled at the same time, a technique in which two climbers descend the opposite strands of an anchored rope, with their bodies counterbalancing each other with an 80-meter rope, the external website reports.

“We started raping,” Jacobson told the Outside website, using the American term for abseiling. “I was a little over him, he was on the left side, he was on the right side, then suddenly I felt an outburst and we started to fall.”

Media legend: Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds accelerate climbing in El Capitan in 2017
While Mr. Jacobson crashed into a bush that cushioned his fall, Gobright fell to his death.

“It was basically a blur,” added Jacobson. “He screamed, I screamed, I went through the vegetation, and then all I remember is that his blue Gramicci shirt bounces off the edge.”

Tribute to Brad Gobright

Tributes to Gobright, who once held the coveted speed record on the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite, have come in from across the climbing world.

“The climbing world lost a true light. Rest in peace,” wrote Alex Honnold, focus of the Academy Award-winning documentary Free Solo.

“He had a magic about him on the rock, unlike anyone I’ve ever met,” wrote Alice Hafer, one of Gobright’s climbing partners.

“He was so supportive and encouraging, always pushing me harder and believing in me.”

Fast Fact You Must Need to Know about Brad Gobright

  • Brad Gobright, 31, was semi-rappelling on Wednesday in Mexico with Aiden Jacobson, 26, who rappelled off a 260ft rope
  • The pair had met each other for the first time on the day of the climb after Gobright posted a request for a climbing partner on Instagram the night before 
  • They did not tie potentially life-saving stopper knots in the ends of their ropes because it could cause the ropes to get stuck 
  • As the pair descended, they misjudged the length of rope they had on either side – with Gobright having less than he thought 
  •  When the rope reached its end it slipped out of his rappel device, causing him to fall 600-feet to his death
  • Jacobson fell at the same time, but his fall was broken by bush and he suffered a broken ankle