r.i.p. todd skinner, climber extraordinaire

I saw the news today, oh boy...

Google News: Todd Skinner, the consummate free-climber, passed away in a freak fall while practicing a new ascent of Leaning Tower in Yosemite.

His belay loop (the strongest part of a climbing harness) gave way during a rappel and he fell 500 feet to the rocks below. The SF Chronicle story has a good wrap up of what happened.

I can't even count the number of times I just hung out way up high in mid-air by nothing more than my belay loop, confident nothing would happen (and it never did). Spooky