A free climber has died after falling 80 feet from Shortoff Mountain in Burke County, North Carolina.
He’s been named as Austin Howell, 31, who was from Chicago and regularly posted on Facebook and Instagram about his free climbing adventures, that don’t involve ropes or safety equipment.
Howell was pronounced dead around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday according to the Burke County Office’s Facebook page.
Tragically Howell had successfully climbed part of the same mountain before and posted a video showing himself scaling in the nude.
Austin Howell, 31, (pictured above) died on Sunday after falling 80 feet from Shortoff Mountain in Burke County, North Carolina
Tragically Howell had successfully climbed part of the same mountain before and posted a video showing himself scaling in the nude (as shown above)
Photos from Howell’s social media accounts show him to be an avid free climber (pictured above) who had successfully taken on mountains and rock faces across the states, much to the admiration of his followers
County officials said the section from which Howell fell was ‘one of the most difficult portions.’ (Howell shown above scaling a rock face in a different location on an earlier date)
Burke County Emergency Communications Center said it was notified around 11.45am that a climber had fallen from the mountain.
County officials said the section from which Howell fell was ‘one of the most difficult portions.’
Howell is said to have landed in a hard-to-reach area which extended the time it took for emergency responders to rescue him.
Officials said other climbers had reached Howell and performed CPR in vain before rescue officials arrived.
‘All indications are that this was a true accident,’ Burke County Emergency Management Director Michael Willis told Fox News.
He added that it was likely Howell was climbing alone without ropes or harnesses.
The last photo Howell had posted on Saturday was a pair of climbing shoes with a caption saying he’d moved on to North Carolina
Shortoff Mountain in Burke County, in western North Carolina, from where Howell fell 80 feet to his death
Photos from Howell’s social media accounts show him to be an avid free climber who had successfully taken on mountains and rock faces across the states, much to the admiration of his followers.
He described in detail his many climbing achievements and a couple of challenges.
In 2015 Howell posted an image of himself on Instagram with a neck brace and what appears to be a broken arm.
‘I took a bad fall in the first pitch of The Nose and landed head-first on the ledge atop the pine line,’ he wrote. It isn’t clear where he sustained the injury.
In an post dated April 18, Howell who used the Instagram handle freesoloist, wrote candidly about how he’d ‘bailed’ on climbing The Black Cliffs in Idaho and how it ‘didn’t smell right.’
‘Life is an inherently dangerous sport. The only safety any of us have lies within our ability to make competent decisions. The only thing different about me, is the type of decisions I have to make,’ Howell wrote.
A few days ago Howell had posted this photo of himself successfully climbing ‘Sandman’ 5.12b/c (7b/+) – my nineteenth 5.12 solo,’ he wrote
Friends posted tributes to Howell on Facebook. This friend said Howell inspired him ‘to climb harder’
This follower on Instagram said Howell had spread ‘stoke and positivity’
Another friend said Howell’s passing had left ‘a big hole in the climbing community’
Friends and followers flooded his Instagram and Facebook page with comments and tributes.
‘Rest in peace brother. Few people can say they lived life on the edge to the fullest. Thanks for being real and for spreading such stoke and positivity,’ an Instagram user posted.
‘Another great soul joining the rock gods… R.I.P. Austin- Will miss you buddy,’ Carlos Flores posted on Facebook.
‘Rest in Peace Austin Howell!!! You were an inspiration for me to climb harder,’ posted another user.
‘Climb free and touch the sun… Your stories will live on forever,’ Nate Coy wrote on Facebook.
‘Austin didn’t care what level you climbed at, who you were, or where you were,’ friend Susan Hill said.
Howell relaxing after reaching the top of one of his many climbs
The last photo Howell posted was a pair of climbing shoes on Saturday with a caption saying he’d moved on to North Carolina.
Only the day before he’d posted a photo of himself successfully climbing ‘Sandman’ 5.12b/c (7b/+) – my nineteenth 5.12 solo,’ Howell had posted referring to the name of the mountain and a reference to climbing grades. A 5.12 is considered ‘hard.’
On Reddit, a friend of Howell’s described him as ‘a personal friend and a hero of mine.
‘Today we’ve lost a great climber among us. Austin Howell fell to his death freesoloing in Linville Gorge…He was known for his soloing efforts, along with a naked video of him climbing with just shoes and a hat on, as well as his podcasts…Whether you were a climber or not he could make you believe in yourself. I will miss him terribly and hope to climb with him again in the afterlife.’
Howell had documented his climbing adventures on social media posting photos and videos
‘Another great soul joining the rock gods… R.I.P. Austin – Will miss you buddy’
Susan Hill (above) praised Howell for helping her with climbing calling him ‘an everyday friend’