18-year-old University of Georgia student killed in rock climbing fall, coroner says
A freshman at the University of Georgia died after falling about 90 feet from a rock face when her rope became unhooked, news outlets report.
Yutong “Faye” Zhang, 18, was rock climbing in Alabama on Oct. 14 when she fell, the Cherokee County Coroner’s Office told AL.com.
Zhang, originally from Minnesota, was climbing a popular route known as “Misty” in Sand Rock with other climbers when she somehow became unhooked from the rock face, falling 90 feet, the outlet reported.
Zhang was relatively new to the sport of rock climbing, and her father told Climbing Magazine it was only her second outside climb.
Active Climbing, a rock gym in Athens, Georgia, said Zhang was a member of its climbing community in an Instagram post.
“Our thoughts are with Faye’s family, friends, and the University of Georgia community at this difficult time. We join them in mourning this profound loss and honoring the vibrancy, passion and kindness that she brought into our lives,” the gym wrote.
In an online rock climbing forum, a person who said they were Zhang’s belay, the person who holds the end of a rock climbing rope on the ground, said Zhang was the last climber of their group to go up and so she was pulling out an attachment to bring down with her.
“We communicated and demonstrated what she was to do when she got to the top while she was on the ground and she was aware and confident of just needing to remove a locker and leave the mussys clipped,” they wrote in the forum. “No one was up there so no one really saw what happened.”
Zhang was a freshman at the University of Georgia, and was part of the school’s highest academic scholarship program, the Foundation Fellowship, UGA spokesperson Greg Trevor told AL.com.
“Gentle – I think – would be a good word,” Zhang’s friend Owen Donnelly told WSB.
Donnelly said Zhang attended the gym a few times a week after starting at the university this fall, and her death has had a significant impact on the Athens climbing community.
“It is tight-knit. So, when something like this happens, it’s very much a ripple effect. It is felt across the community,” Donnelly told the outlet.
The accident occurred at Sand Rock, about 110 miles northwest of Atlanta.
Former student who lost legs in accident makes ‘incredible’ return to Tennessee school
College football recruiter exposes himself to girl in Target, Tennessee police say
Ambushed college student is shot dead trying to help woman faking car troubles, feds say
Man beat 18-year-old with hammer, then dumped her body in ravine, Texas cops say
