A climber鈥檚 body was found on a hiking trail near Boulder, Colorado, on September 27, . Angus Moloney, 22, was reportedly free-solo climbing the Fifth Pinnacle above the Gregory Canyon Trail, which is part of聽Boulder鈥檚 (OSMP), and fell the day before his body was discovered.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to get onto some of these very challenging formations,鈥 Phillip Yates, spokesperson for the OSMP, told 国产吃瓜黑料 on Wednesday.聽鈥淸Some climbers] don鈥檛 even know their limits when they access these areas, and that creates problems.鈥
Free聽soloing, the practice of climbing without rope or a harness, is common in the area,聽Malcolm Daly, an employee at , a specialty climbing shop in Boulder, told 国产吃瓜黑料. The formation features slabs of rock at less-than-vertical angles. It鈥檚 an easy ascent for many鈥攕omeone once climbed the nearby Third Flatiron 鈥攂ut after topping out, climbers must then down-climb the backside, which is聽vertical.
鈥淲hen they get to the top, it鈥檚 like, 鈥極h shit, now what do we do?鈥欌 Daly said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the scene of a lot of epic accidents.鈥澛
Moloney鈥檚 mother, Jean Palmer-Moloney, 聽that her son was an experienced climber but wasn鈥檛 wearing a helmet at the time of his accident.聽
鈥淚 think young men, especially in their 20s, feel invincible,鈥 Palmer-Moloney said to the Star. 鈥淏ut they have to know that they need to be safe.鈥澛
According to an obituary published in the , a memorial service for Moloney聽is planned聽on聽October 24 in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.