CLIMBING FRIENDS FALL TO THEIR DEATHS AS RESCUE TRY FAILS.Byline: Donna Huffaker and Orith Goldberg Staff Writers A 20-year friendship ended in tragedy after a pair of experienced rock climbers This list of climbers includes both mountaineers and rock climbers, since many (though not all) climbers engage in both types of activities. The list also includes boulderers and ice climbers. fell to their deaths while one tried to help the other who had fractured his ankle in the San Jacinto San Jacinto, river, c.130 mi (210 km) long, rising in SE Texas as the West Fork and flowing S to Galveston Bay. Its chief tributary is Buffalo Bayou, and both the bayou and the lower river are used for the Houston ship channel. Wilderness west of Palm Springs, authorities said Monday. On Sunday, Kevin Dahn, 49, of Northridge and Kwan Kam, 59, of Glendale were scaling Tahquitz Rock, a challenging granite surface favored by climbers that reaches 8,000 feet above sea level. During the climb, Dahn injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. his ankle. Kam tried lowering his injured friend to safety but ran out of rope. He attempted to climb down further, lost his footing and both men fell more than 100 feet to their deaths, authorities said. Family members said the two had been climbers for 30 years and friends for more than two decades. Molly Dahn said Monday that her husband was a careful climber climb·er n. 1. One that climbs, especially a person who climbs mountains. 2. Sports A device, such as a crampon, used in mountain climbing. 3. A plant that climbs. 4. who had taken on mountains, rocks and ice. ``I was worried all the time, but he really had a passion for climbing. He was experienced and he was always prepared,'' she said. ``He loved the mountains, so that is where he is right now.'' Kam's 12-year-old daughter, Christina, said her father had climbed Mount McKinley and also had scaled mountains in China and Europe. He climbed often, she said, adding that she accompanied him on several occasions. Sometimes she worried about her dad, she said, ``but I never expected anything like this.'' Kam's wife of 25 years, Serim, agreed. ``I had confidence in him and he never had an accident,'' she said. ``This was the first and last.'' Others scaling the mammoth mammoth, name for several large prehistoric elephants of the extinct genus Mammuthus, which ranged over Eurasia and North America in the Pleistocene epoch. rock face, three miles northeast of Idyllwild, on Sunday saw the 2:30 p.m. fall and used a cellular phone to call authorities, said Sgt. Terry Meadows of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department The Riverside County Sheriff's Department serves the unincorporated areas of Riverside County, California; as well as several incorporated contract cities. History Unincorporated Areas Served
After Dahn fractured his ankle, Kam, who was tied to his friend, tried to lower him onto a safe place on the rock face, said Ray Hussey, a member of the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit. Kwan was running short of rope, but apparently decided to climb down the rock anyway to try to get his friend to safety. But he slipped and they both plummeted to the ground, officials said. A deputy from the Riverside County Coroner's Office said Kam fell 200 feet and Dahn fell 100 to 150 feet. Authorities had airlifted Kam out of the canyon by 8 p.m. Sunday, but it was too dark to send a helicopter back for Dahn, so hikers from a rescue unit carried Dahn out, officials said. Although the peak is named Lily Rock, Hussey, one of the rescue hikers, said avid AVID Cardiology A clinical trial–Antiarrhythmics Versus Implantable Defibrillators that compared the effect of implantable defibrillators vs the best medical therapy–antiarrhythmics for survivors of MI or those with nonsustained ventricular tachycardia climbers prefer to use its American Indian American Indian or Native American or Amerindian or indigenous American Any member of the various aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of the Eskimos (Inuit) and the Aleuts. name, Tahquitz Rock, which reflects the character of the massive granite formation better than the ``floral name.'' The rock face features a lot of overhangs and ranges in difficulty from the easiest to the most rigorous of climbs, depending on how high the climber goes, Hussey said. Its fine granite is reminiscent of rocks in Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park (yōsĕm`ĭtē), 761,266 acres (308,205 hectares), E central Calif.; est. 1890 as a result of the efforts of conservationist John Muir. Located in the Sierra Nevada, it is a glacier-scoured area of great beauty; Mt. . ``It takes almost an hour of hard climbing just to get to the base,'' and offers the most challenging climb in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , he said. Both Kam and Dahn immigrated to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. from Korea more than 30 years ago. Both started climbing as teen-agers and were ``mountain buddies'' for a very long time, Molly Dahn said. When Serim Kam called Molly Dahn about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, worried because their husbands were not home, Dahn reassured her and said she didn't think anything was wrong. But at 2 a.m. Monday, when Molly woke up and looked in the driveway to find her husband's car still gone, she called his cellular phone, but there was no answer. At 4 a.m., when a deputy came to the door, her worst fears were confirmed. ``I still can't believe it. I feel like he is going to walk in the door at any moment,'' Molly Dahn said. Kam's wife said she had a twinge twinge n. A sharp, sudden physical pain. v. To cause to feel a sharp pain. of hope about 3 a.m. when she heard a door slamming and thought it was her returning husband. Instead, she saw an official who had come to deliver the grim news. Kam's daughter said Monday that she doubts she'll continue climbing. ``When I was little, we went climbing with family and friends. I like climbing. I really like boulders, but I don't like huge mountains like he does. He's really athletic,'' she said. In addition to his wife and daughter, Kam is survived by his 25-year-old son, Kevin Jr. Dahn is survived by his wife; daughters, Urie, 21, and Yumie, 16; and his 19-year-old son, Junie. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Dahn |
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