Record-Breaking Rock Climber Found Dead At CA National Park

TULARE COUNTY, CA — A record-setting amateur rock climber died in an accident last week at Sequoia National Park, according to reports.

Jacob Whisenant, 30, of Mammoth Lakes, suffered an accidental death Aug. 3, according to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. He was discovered dead at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, where search-and-rescue teams responded to the Aug. 2 climbing incident in the Sierra Nevada, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“It is with an impossibly heavy heart that I share the passing of my lifelong friend and confidant — Jacob Daniel Whisenant,” Bailee Moore posted on Facebook. “Our family is absolutely devastated by this news but find solace in the fact that Jake died doing what he loves in the beautiful Sierra Nevada.”

Whisenant and his climbing partner, Brant Hysell, chronicled their record-setting outings on social media. These included Lurking Fear at El Capitan — where the duo broke a 2003 record in October 2024 — and The Prow at Washington Column, both in Yosemite National Park and both climbs the pair completed in well under three hours.

“His passion for climbing was only a small glimpse into the kind of person he was,” Moore wrote on a GoFundMe page created to collect donations in order to preserve Whisenant’s legacy and support his loved ones, especially his fiancée.

“He will always be remembered for his unwavering respect for nature, for others, and for every moment he was given.”