A few days ago I posted a story about a college student who slipped 100 meters off a steep and snowy cliff to his death on Mt. Aspiring in New Zealand.
Authorities now say that he was carrying hiking boots and the proper snow gear to summit the mountain. 19-year-old Leonard Alexander Phease chose to wear running shoes on the less technical climb up to Liverpool Hut. On the next day, he planned on summiting the mountain.
But the hikers came across ice and snow below the hut. Authorities believe he was going to stop and change into his boots but saw the hut and got summit fever and pushed to the rest point in his running shoes. Then tragedy struck.
He slid down the steep and rocky cliff. Authorities said he tried to stop himself, but he continued down the mountain and came to rest at a bush line where he died.
Family members said “he was a great boy.” And some of the hikers in the group with him have known him since kindergarten.
Read the follow-up story here.
Recent Comments