Free solo climber Brad Gobright fell 305 metres to his death

A record-breaking free solo climber reportedly failed to tie a crucial knot in his rope before slipping off and falling 305 metres down the face of a mountain.

Brad Gobright, 31, was rappelling down the sheer El Sendero Luminoso rock face at El Potrero Chico, near Monterrey, when he tragically slid off the end of his line.

He had been scaling down the renowned cliff with Aiden Jacobson, 26, when he reportedly misjudged the length of rope he had left beneath him, according to The Sun.

Gobright had only met Jacobson on the day of his death after posting an appeal for a climbing partner on Instagram the night before.

Jacobson, who was sharing the 260m rope with Gobright for the simultaneous rappel, also fell but miraculously survived after landing in a bushy crevice on the 762m cliff.

Describing the harrowing moment they both began falling, Jacobson told Outside: “I was on the left. He was on the right.

“Then all of a sudden I felt a pop and we started dropping. It was basically a blur. I screamed, he screamed.

“I went through some vegetation, and then all I remember is seeing is his blue Gramicci shirt bounce over the edge.”

Tributes to well-known Gobright have come in from across the climbing world.

“The climbing world lost a true light. Rest in peace,” wrote Alex Honnold, focus of the Academy Award-winning Netflix documentary Free Solo.

“He had a magic about him on the rock, unlike anyone I’ve ever met,” added Alice Hafer, one of Gobright’s regular climbing partners.

“He was so supportive and encouraging, always pushing me harder and believing in me.”

The pair had misjudged how much rope was left beneath them, according to Jacobson – who was left with only a broken ankle from his fall.

He claimed Gobright slipped off the end of his side of the rope after failing to tie lifesaving stopper knots in it – which would have been a guide to how much he had left to rappel down.

They were using the technique of simul-abseiling, by which two climbers descend opposite strands of a rope and act as counterweights to each other.

According to Outside magazine, the men had not tied knots in the ends of their ropes, which could have been potentially lifesaving.

Gobright slipped from his side of the rope causing Jacobson, who was strapped to the other side, to also plunge, according to the surviving climber.

It’s thought Gobright may have neglected to tie the stopper knot on the end of his rope to stop it getting stuck.

Mexico’s Nuevo Leon state civil defence office said Gobright fell about 300 meters.

Gino Negrinni, a Costa Rican climber who was on the mountain at the same time, said he heard the climbers’ chilling screams as they plummeted, according to Rock And Ice magazine.

Gobright is believed to have landed near the bottom of the cliff on a ledge known as Skull Amphitheatre, according to the mag – which hailed him as “one of the most accomplished free solo climbers in the world.”

The veteran climber, of Orange County, California, had been scaling cliffs since he was seven and held multiple speed ascent records.

Among his biggest achievements was his October 2017 speed record for ascending the Nose route of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

That climb is considered one of the world’s most technical and dangerous in the world.

He and climbing partner Jim Reynolds raced up the nearly vertical, 884m rock face in just two hours and 19 minutes.

Previous record holder Alex Honnold wrote an emotional tribute to Gobright, saying the climbing world had lost a “true light”.

He wrote on Instagram: “I suppose there’s something to be said about being safe out there and the inherent risks in climbing but I don’t really care about that right now.

“I’m just sad for Brad and his family. And for all of us who were so positively affected by his life. So crushing.

“Brad was a real gem of a man. For all his strengths and weaknesses (like his insanely strong fingers, or living out of a Honda Civic …) at the core he was just a good guy.”

In a statement, the state civil defence office said: “We extend our sympathies and support to the rock climbing community.”

This story first appeared in The Sun and has been republished here with permission.