Sept. 24 (UPI) — A 21-year-old climber died this week after falling from Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, park rangers said. Stewart Phillip Porter of Eau Claire, Wis., died Sunday evening, the National Park Service said in a statement Tuesday.
Park rangers said he fell while rappelling the second pitch of El Cracko Diablo on Devils Tower, suffering major injuries. Devils Tower Law Enforcement was notified of the fall shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday. Responders arrived 40 minutes later and pronounced Porter dead at the scene.
Porter’s climbing partner was stranded on the tower, and required rescuing, the National Park Service added.
Considered sacred by local indigenous people, Devils Tower is an impressive geological feature, standing 867 feet tall. According to the National Park Service, it was formed underground from molten rock pushed up into sedimentary rock by magma.
People have climbed the rock as far back as 1893. It sees between 5,000 and 6,000 climbers annually.
A total of seven people have now died climbing Devils Tower since 1937, including four while descending.
“While climbing fatalities at Devils Tower are infrequent, it is still inherently dangerous,” according to the National Park Service.