A climber known for setting speed records in Yosemite National Park has died in a climbing accident in California.
Jake Whisenant, 30, of Mammoth Lakes, California, died Aug. 3, according to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office Coroner Unit.
The sheriff’s office website lists the cause of death as “accident,” and officials have not released additional details. Tulare County includes Sequoia National Park and the southern Sierra Nevada.
National Park Service personnel responded to a “climbing-related incident” in the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness on Aug. 2, according to a spokesperson.
Whisenant was found dead after two days of search-and-rescue and recovery operations, the National Park Service spokesperson said.
Bailee Moore, who described Whisenant as her lifelong friend, told NBC News on Monday that he died in a fall while he was climbing and that the details surrounding the fall are still being investigated.
She called his death an “unimaginable loss.”
“There’s no words that could possibly encapsulate the kind of person he was,” Moore said.
Whisenant was known in the climbing community for his speed ascents, including record-setting climbs in Yosemite.
In October 2024, Whisenant and South Lake Tahoe climber Brant Hysell set a speed record on El Capitan’s Lurking Fear route, finishing in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 32 seconds, according to a post on Whisenant’s Instagram account.
Two days earlier, the pair had completed the same route in just over four hours.
Following the achievement, Whisenant continued taking on challenging routes in Yosemite.
In May, he and fellow climber Noah Fox climbed El Capitan’s famed Nose route twice in one day, posting their feat on Fox’s Instagram account.
Moore remembered Whisenant as “much more than a climber.”
“He really was multitudes, and to say I’m heartbroken doesn’t do it justice,” she said.
