Elderly Climber Suffers Fatal Fall in Wisconsin

An 84-year-old man died after falling roughly 25 feet while rock climbing at Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin over the weekend, authorities said Wednesday. Emergency crews were called to the park's West Bluff area around 11:30am Sunday following reports that the man had fallen while scaling a steep vertical face. He was still alive when first responders arrived, but lost his pulse before medics could treat him, Mark Willer, assistant chief of Baraboo Area Fire and EMS District, tells the New York Times. Rescue teams attempting to reach the climber using a high-angle rope rescue, a method involving descent down steep terrain, ultimately recovered the body, per WKOW.

The man had been climbing with a group, though officials didn't specify how many people were involved. His name has not been released. Devil's Lake State Park, located about 37 miles northwest of Madison, draws over 2.5 million visitors annually and boasts more than a thousand climbing routes. Willer noted that climbing accidents requiring rescue are rare at the park, and climbers "are historically the safest people out there." The Baraboo Area Fire and EMS District has conducted five high-angle rescues this year, including one in May involving a climber who fell about 20 feet and was hospitalized, the Times reports.