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From the Associated Press, via the San Diego Union-Tribune, September 16th, 2005
Rock climber from S.D. killed in fall
September 16, 2005
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK – A San Diego man fell to his death Wednesday while trying to scale the face of Half Dome in Yosemite
National Park.
Bela Feher, 35, apparently fell 100 to 150 feet while rock climbing near the Slab Route of Half Dome. Feher’s body was discovered by other rock climbers about 11 a.m.
Feher, who was alone, appeared to be an experienced climber, park officials said.
The exact cause of death still was under investigation yesterday.
– Associated Press
From the San Diego Union-Tribune, Thursday September 29, 2005
Chris Feher
For veteran rock climber Chris Feher, many of the routes up the Half Dome in Yosemite National Park were as familiar as they were
challenging.
He had completed the roughly 4,800-foot climb more times than he could remember, either alone or in the company of others who shared
his passion for vertical adventures.
On Sept. 14, he was climbing solo on a path known as the Slab Route when he fell 100 to 150 feet to his death. Hikers found his body at the
foot of a cliff.
No one knows what caused the accident. One climber about a quartermile away said he heard a rock slide, but park rangers refused to
identify that as a cause because Mr. Feher had been protected by a ledge above him that remained intact.
What is known is that Mr. Feher, 35, consistently used good judgment, along with the best climbing gear he could find or make. In
addition to his mastery of Half Dome routes, he had climbed the sheer granite walls of El Capitan in Yosemite seven times.
” He was always really careful, very focused, ” said Scott Wied, a friend. ” He was in his element up there. That was what he loved, and
he did it a lot. ”
Mr. Feher, a mechanical engineer with a flair for artistic design, had built a climbing wall in the back yard of his Point Loma home. To facilitate his longer climbs at destinations such as Yosemite and Joshua Tree National Park, he designed specialized equipment, including what he called a ” porta-ledge ” for sleeping on the side of a cliff.
He built his own kayak, in which he paddled around San Diego and Mission bays, and designed and built furniture. His parents have a
coffee table he made with a mosaic of brightly colored tiles. Recently, he had been converting a former door into a computer desk.
He also had completed a metal sculpture and had created and laid ceramic tile.
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