Technical rock climber dies in fall from Poke-O-Moonshine

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October 8, 2007

Experienced rock climber plummets 200 feet

By KIM SMITH DEDAM The Press Republican Mon Oct 08, 2007, 05:16 AM EDT

CHESTERFIELD -- A tragic fall claimed the life of an experienced technical rock climber on Sunday.

Dennis Luther, of Morrisonville, fell about 200-feet from an advanced rock-climbing route up Poke-O-Moonshine at about 2:30 p.m.

State police have not released a final report on the accident.

Emergency medical crews from Elizabethtown-Lewis and Keeseville Ambulance Squad responded within minutes of the call for help placed by a climbing companion.

Luther was pronounced dead at the scene by Essex County Coroner Walter Marvin, Jr.

Poke-O-Moonshine is a national caliber rock-climbing area, known for clean geometric lines and steep pitch, which makes it popular with advanced technical climbers.

Difficulties here are measured at varying degrees of class 5 vertical on a scale of 1 to 5.

Adirondack rock-climbing guide Don Mellor, of Lake Placid, who climbed with Luther for over 20 years was deeply saddened to learn of the accident Sunday, which he called a "gigantic" loss to the close-knit, technical climbing community.

"He's a good guy, a good friend of all of ours," Mellor said. "It's a gigantic loss to all of us in the local community, which is really tight."

Luther earned great respect as a rock climber and was "very, very beloved by all his friends."

There are nearly 150 established "trad" or traditional rock climbing routes up the cliffs of Poke-O-Moonshine reaching 450-feet at the highest point.

The craggy mountain face sits only a few miles inside the blue line on high ground like a gate to the central Adirondack region.

Travelers heading north just past Exit 32 on I-87 often spot climbers' bright helmets against the dark gray cliffs.

It is not unusual on a sunny weekend day to see 15 or more groups working their way up the rock fractures, a number dozens shy of popular cliffs in the Rocky Mountains out west.

"It's accessible, it's high and it has clean crack lines and corners," Mellor said of the mountain face in a phone interview Sunday.

Security for climbers is measured in the amount of sound cracks for anchors, and Poke-O-Moonshine is solid.

Its sheer cliffs are actually a safety feature; climbing lines drop straight down without craggy outcroppings below.

"It's safer than other climbs because it is so steep. If the rope catches you, it's a soft catch," Mellor said.

Poke-O-Moonshine, called "Poke-O" by climbers, has been a popular climbing area since 1955 with famed routes with names like "Bloody Mary," "The Cooler" and "Land of Make Believe."

One other fatal climbing accident occurred on Poke-O-Moonshine on Feb. 22, 2002, when a melting chunk of ice let go under Toronto ice climbing instructor Kevin Bailey.

In all, five fatal climbing accidents have occurred in the Adirondacks, three on the loose rocks of Wallface at Indian Pass in the High Peaks, one on the cliffs at Chapel Pond in Keene Valley, plus the ice climb on Poke-O-Moonshine.