ROCK climber Michael Reardon pushed himself to the limit of his abilities, but ships were never meant to remain in harbours.

Tribute was paid to the fearless way the solo climber lived his life, at a moving ceremony on the cliff-top overlooking his last dramatic climb on Valentia Island, Co Kerry yesterday.

Up to 150 people gathered in sunshine to pay their respects to the 35-year-old American who was washed out to sea on Friday, after scaling the cliff-face twice.

A hundred feet below, Navy and Garda sub-aqua teams scoured the sea-bed for any trace of the man renowned among climbers and mountaineers for his daring exploits without ropes or safety equipment.
...

The wife and teenage daughter of the world-famous American climber who was swept out to sea off the Kerry coast are clinging to hope that he is still alive.

Michael Reardon's wife, Marci and their daughter, Nicki (13) arrived in Ireland from Los Angeles at lunchtime yesterday and went straight to the cliff where he was last seen.

There they met with rescue personnel involved in the search and watched as efforts to find the climber continued.

Marci and Nicki are said to be hopeful that Michael is still alive as he is a particularly strong swimmer and a superbly fit man.

A vigil is to be held for his safe return tomorrow in Valentia. The family were accompanied yesterday by Kerry mountaineer, Con Moriarty, a close friend of the missing man.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the photographer who was with Mr Reardon when he fell into the sea tried to throw him a rope. Visual contact was also maintained with Mr Reardon for some moments and he also responded to calls.

The photographer then ran to alert the local lifeboat which was immediately launched.
...

...
Valerie O'Sullivan, a photographer from Killarney who had accompanied him on a number of climbs, told The Times that his death had shocked the climbing community in Ireland.

"He was standing below a climb he had just completed and the photographer, Damon Corso, was about 30ft away taking pictures of him.

"Michael was on a real high after the climb. He was about 10ft above the sea and he let go and had his hands out, celebrating, to say he had completed the climb of his life. But then a rogue wave just came in.

"The wave hit him on the knees and he lost his balance and slipped on the algae. He was shouting for help but there was nothing Damon could do.

Miss O'Sullivan said Mr Corso raised the alarm from his mobile telephone. "It is very unpredictable and there are some very powerful waves," she continued. "It's a bottomless pit made up of caves and caverns below the water. It is treacherous.
...

Michael Reardon, 36, the accomplished free soloist based out of Oak Park, California, went missing off the southwestern coast of Ireland around 5 p.m. Friday. He had just completed a climb near the Valentia Marine Radio Station, on the small island of Valentia, when a rogue wave took him into the sea. He did not fall 70 feet from the cliff top, or while climbing, as earlier reports had indicated. This is a report from his friend, the photographer Damon Corso, who was there at the time:

"It was just another day of climbing on Atlantic sea cliffs in Ireland with Mike (Reardon). We had arrived on Valentia Island in a slight fog and drizzle. Mike took me around the bottom of Wireless Point to an inlet merely 15 feet above the roaring Atlantic, a situation we were now used to. We arrived at a spot he had climbed at alone two weeks prior. Mike up and downed two different climbs while I shot photos trying to combine him and the raw force of the waves crashing all around us. He finished the two climbs and was waiting, on an-algae covered platform, for the big swells to pass by so that he could walk back over to me on the opposite side of the inlet. A rouge wave came into the inlet and curved rightwards as it crashed into Mike. He tried to stabilize himself on the platform but the water was too powerful and sucked him in. The current pulled Mike out 150-plus meters in mere seconds. I ran up the hill to the Valentia Coast Guard station a mile away. Mike was still conscious in the water when I left him. The Coast Guard arrived on the scene no more than 15 minutes after the incident. Mike was nowhere to be seen at this point. Twelve volunteer rescue boats, the Coast Guard Lifeboat and Chopper were on the scene that evening."

Rescue services worked until dark on Friday. And on Saturday, more Coast Guard boats and divers from the Naval Service combed the area, with searchers on foot looking along the shore. A helicopter with an infrared scanner searched on Friday and Saturday as well. Reardon had not been found as of Sunday, when it was reported that the search was scaling back

Please stay tuned to climbing.com for more. The press can contact msamet@climbing.com.

Sources: Damon Corso, www.rte.ie

THE devastated photographer friend of world-famous rock climber Michael Reardon, who was swept away by a freak wave while standing on a flat ledge along the coast of Kerry, has spoken of the tragic irony of the incident.

"The sad irony of it was that Michael wasn't climbing at the time. He was standing about a metre away from the sea on a flat ledge, which was only about three feet over the Atlantic, when a rogue wave came and knocked him over," said Con Moriarty.

"It buckled his knees so he fell onto his back and slid down an algae ledge and into the surf where he was unable to get back again. He was carried by a current and was last seen a few hundred metres out, shouting and waving."

Mr Reardon, an American in his early 30s and one of the world's leading free solo climbers, was staying with Mr Moriarty at the foot of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks, Co Kerry, during a month-long visit to the area, designed to promote Irish adventure holidays to the US market.

"We were to have dinner later that night," the stunned photographer explained. "He was anxious to taste some malt whiskey before he went home. He was here for a month and due to go home yesterday."
...

The search has resumed for a missing climber from the United States who was swept out to sea off Valentia Island two days ago.
...

...Mr Reardon had been walking along the top of a cliff at Dohilla when he slipped on some heavy kelp and was unable to regain his footing. He plunged some 75ft into the sea below. The alarm was raised by his fellow climbers.

A major search operation for an American man who fell 70 feet into the sea off the Kerry coast is winding down for the night and due to resume at first light The missing man is 32 year old Michael Reardon, from Connecticut... one of the world's leading Free Soloists..

An air and sea search off the Kerry coast for an American tourist who fell from rocks on Valentia Island has been called off for the night.

The search is due to resume at first light tomorrow.
...

Are we sure we're talking about the same Michael Reardon? I'm just curious because "our" Mike Reardon is certainly older than 32--and lives in California rather than Connecticut.

Whoever it is, of course, I hope he is found to be OK.

Curt

Are we sure we're talking about the same Michael Reardon? I'm just curious because "our" Mike Reardon is certainly older than 32--and lives in California rather than Connecticut.

Whoever it is, of course, I hope he is found to be OK.

Curt

Mr Reardon had been walking along the top of a cliff at Dohilla when he slipped on some heavy kelp and was unable to regain his footing. He plunged some 75ft into the sea below. The alarm was raised by his fellow climbers.

(snip) A fellow climber raised the alarm after seeing the American being swept from rocks north of Valentia Island, County Kerry.

Valentia Island coastguard John Falvey told Sky News it appeared the man was hit by a wave at 5pm on Friday while climbing a cliff on the north of the island.

"At this stage we are looking for a body," he said.

The local lifeboat, Shannon search and rescue helicopter, coastguards, cliff rescue teams and local people searched unsuccessfully until nightfall and began again at first light

(snip) [Con] Moriarty said Reardon had just finished a climb on Friday and was standing on a ledge when he was knocked into the sea by a "rogue wave" and was carried out beyond the surf line.

"He vanished from a standing position as opposed to a climbing one," Moriarty said.

^Indeed...

Even though some people knock him - I think he IS a great climber.

regardless of his climbing prowess; a decent human may have been taken from his friends and family too soon. THAT is the only issue. It saddens me to think that his wife and daughter are experiencing such a heart-wrenching loss. The poor things must be inconsolable.

Just to keep you guys informed, heres a report on the story from last nights Irish national news station that plays in real player.

http://www.rte.ie/...tml?2269322,null,230

fixed link.

Curt

I have been and still am proud to call Michael my friend. I shouldn't be stunned, considering the way Michael lived life, but I am none the less. I'll miss you Michael.

MR. Don’t shed a tear, raise a pint and laugh because I’m living hard and loving harder than anyone has a right to. Besides, the devil won’t have me and we know the old man upstairs isn’t opening the gates so I’ll still be around and giggling right along with you until we meet again.

And so he fell but didn't land
'Til he reached the dwelling of the damned.
Then he upped and bid Old Nick farewell
And started climbing out of Hell.

It's now all uphill whiche'r route he take.
And yet we hope for Henry's sake,
That the grading of his route to Heaven
Is somewhat less than five-eleven.

Curt, you're a very eloquent man, and one should be honored to have such words spoke of him.

Hoist a glasss/pint/mug to Michael.

c[_]

You may have liked Michael or you might not have liked Michael, but he was an extremely colorful personality--and the world of climbing will be considerably more gray without him.

edited to add: if the owners are going to start the 'in memoriam' feature or its quvivalent, if michel reardon doesnt make it, it would be the right place to start.

The general consensus among the mods/staff is that we should wait for a final confirmation/official word before we start such a thread. There is a chance, slim though it may be, that Michael is found. He's a strong man, and stranger things have happened.

Not wanting to take anything from Bren... but let's give credit where credit is due... the text in Bren's post is actually a direct copy/paste job from the article listed at the top of the first post on this thread (edited by knitclimb on Jul 18, 2007, 5:13 AM).
Here is the link again.
http://www.independent.ie/...lifftop-1039283.html

It is Anne Lucey's eloquence that moved us all.

Not wanting to take anything from Bren... but let's give credit where credit is due... the text in Bren's post is actually a direct copy/paste job from the article listed at the top of the first post on this thread (edited by knitclimb on Jul 18, 2007, 5:13 AM).
Here is the link again.
http://www.independent.ie/...lifftop-1039283.html

It is Anne Lucey's eloquence that moved us all.

Mike is/was a friend of mine, and I was aquainted with both his wife and his daughter... I remember bouldering with Mike and Nikki a few years ago at Stoney Point. We, my wife (post above) and I, have camped with them, and I have climbed with Mike often at J-Tree, Malibu, and Needles. He is/was an inspiration to me, and inspired me to climb harder, and for different reasons... But more importantly, he is/was a friend, and his form of banter and playfullness will be missed... I remember bouldering with him and friends in J-Tree, and was locked off on a thin crimper groping blindly for the sloper on the top of the problem with Mike on top trying to tell me where it was, but I was looking at the crimper... He kept telling me to look up, and when I finally did, I saw his bare ass just 6 inches from my face, which of course caused me to fall off in laughter, to which he said, "ha-ha, no onsight for you!".

I love ya brutha.

On You tube....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnsShKeYYU8

Curt

can someone tell me why this is stickied?

We here in Boulder CO. are putting on a fund raiser for Mike's family:
Thursday, July, 26 @ 8:00pm
@ The Spot Bouldering Gym.
There will be beer, food, a raffle and slide show.
$10.00 for all the above.

Michael Reardon
7/14/2007
As I sit here contemplating what to do next, I am staring at the Rockies with a massive storm pounding the mountain range with a purple furry of rain and lightning. I just hung up the phone with my good buddy Buck and he just informed me about a mutual friend not only to myself and Buck, but to the climbing community as a whole. I guess Michael Reardon has fallen into the ocean while checking out a climb on the coast of Ireland. A rogue wave washed Mike into the ocean and swept him out to sea. Another climber that was with Mike, called the Coast Guard and other authorities for help on Friday. They are still searching for him. There are articles on line for the full details.
He was just in town not but a month ago and we drank beer laughing about stupid shit. Mike has made a name for himself with his amazing solos, but he will always be just Mike, the kind of guy who screams hello from across the bar and always shakes your hand with a huge smile on his face. Genuine is the one word that I would use to describe Mike. A lot of people talked a lot of shit about Mike’s accomplishments, but he did what he loved to do. I get pissed when people have to down talk anyone who does something big even if it is out of character. Mike was one of those people who liked everyone and never judged anyone who was maybe not as crazy as he was or didn’t climb as hard. In my eyes, Mike was just being Mike and living life as he knew how. He loved his family, his friends and his climbing. I am happy for Mike, because he did what he loved to do and proved everyone wrong.
I bumped into Mike years ago in Bishop while he was working on “High Plains Drifter”. He was having a hell of a time. He tried and tried, but couldn’t send on that trip. I would bump into him at JTree after he just soloed some route and asked if I would go with. There was no way I was going to go soloing, and I thought to myself, you crazy bastard, you can solo this, but you can’t do “High Plains Drifter”. He eventually sent “High Plains Drifter”, but I would always trip how he could do such hard ass routes and not do “High Plains”. I have no idea what his motivation was or why he did what he did, but I do know, he did do what he did and he did it well.
I don’t want to think that he is gone forever; I want to have hope that the Coast Guard will find him in some cave just kickin it, waiting for the seas to calm down. Mike, if you are out there, come home and make us all laugh again.
Thank you for reading this and please pray for Mike and his family.

Eric “EZ” Harrison

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.
-Albert Pike

A special service to celebrate the life of Michael Reardon, who tragically disappeared off the coast of Ireland two weeks ago, will be held on August 18, 2007.

This special service will be taking place at Malibu Creek State Park located 4 miles south of highway 101 on Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon Road, 25 miles from downtown Los Angeles, California.

This will be the "Official&" Memorial and Service for Michael Reardon. Everyone is invited, but guests are being asked by the family to dress very casually in jeans or shorts and sneakers or flip-flops, Michael's preferred style of dress.

Marci and Nicki, Michael's wife and daughter, will be attending this special ceremony, as will many family members and friends.

If you can attend to show your support for this great family in these trying times, please make plans for August 18.

As far as I know, this is the first report of this Memorial Service anywhere else in the world, and as such, it is requested that you pass this information along as far and wide as you possibly can. This family deserves this special time and the more people involved, the better. Michael touched alot of lives through his own. His number 1 love in life was not climbing, but his family. It is time to show them all the appreciation.