Teen killed in rock climbing fall identified

Thursday, April 7, 2005 | 9:45 a.m.

The Las Vegas teen who died Tuesday night after falling about 75 feet while rock climbing in Lake Mead National Recreation Area was Durango High School junior Jason William Kyle, authorities said.

It took rescuers two hours to get to Kyle, who had been with two friends in a remote area near White Rock Wash in Arizona, Roxanne Dey, spokeswoman for the recreation area, said.

The location to which he fell "is about a mile down, which doesn't sound that far, but there's a lot of loose gravel," Dey said. The equipment rescuers carried also slowed them, she added.

Kyle and two friends had been hiking in the area, off U.S. 93, south of Hoover Dam, when he decided to climb a rock wall without using any ropes or other protective gear for climbing, Dey said. He reached a point where he could go no farther and was trying to climb back down when he fell. His friends were not hurt.

Recreation area dispatchers received the call about Kyle's fall about 6:30 p.m. National Park Service rangers and Mohave County Sheriff's Office personnel got to the spot at 8:25 p.m.

This area of the park is popular among hikers who visit the Arizona Hot Springs on Lake Mohave.

Kyle's death was the fourth fatality at the recreation area this year and the first fall.

"We rarely have falls," Dey said. "Usually it's a drowning or a boating accident."