Cathedral Ledge death

[spyboy]

Be careful hiking in wet conditions

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articl...NEWS-909299989

[redthorne]

Yikes.

I have yet to check out the hiking tails up there. I hear the view is quite nice this time of year.

[Brad]

Kirk,

The Fish & Game report has a bit more information.

http://www.mountwashington.org/forum...ead.php?t=5458

[CHRIS]

I just found this at the Union Leader web site.


Wife mourns loss of 'best friend'
By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader
Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009

MANCHESTER ? Steven J. Clark was having a bad day Saturday, according to his wife.

Teri Clark doesn't know what bothered him, she said. But it was bad enough that Clark took off, something his wife said he hasn't done in their 12 years of marriage. He left home about 8:30 p.m.

By Sunday afternoon, Teri Clark was worried enough to call Manchester police and report her husband missing. Although he was depressed and had talked about suicide in the past, Teri Clark told police her husband had never tried to kill himself, according to a police report.

About 24 hours later, his body was found at the bottom of 600-foot Cathedral Ledge in North Conway. Authorities yesterday called the death an apparent suicide, something that irks Clark.

"He didn't leave here in the greatest frame of mind, but my husband would not kill himself," Clark told the New Hampshire Union Leader. "Why he fell, I don't know. He could have slipped."

Clark said the medical examiner talked to her father Monday and said her husband either jumped or fell.

She was upset to read a statement that listed his death as an apparent suicide. In a statement issued yesterday, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said two climbers found Clark's body at the base of the cliff late Monday afternoon. They immediately hiked back and called for help.

Clark's car was parked atop the ledge, where a fence separates the viewing area from the cliff.

Cathedral Ledge is a popular spot for rock climbers who use ropes and gear to scale the rock face. Its top offers spectacular views to the east. But it also draws the despondent. In May 2006, a Maine man jumped to his death at Cathedral Ledge, according to Union Leader archives.

Other suicides have taken place there in the past, according to the Web site www.NEclimbs.com.

Teri Clark said the top of Cathedral Ledge was a special place to her husband. It was one of the first places he ever took her.

[Snow Miser]

It would have been very dark by the time he got there. And if he didn't have a light, could likely have misjudged where the edge was.