US2 min(s) read
Published 15:54 19 Jun 2026 GMT
Just hours after Brad Parker proposed to his girlfriend, the experienced climber plunged to his death in Yosemite National Park.
In 2014, shortly after he asked Jainee Dial to marry him, Brad set off on a solo climb which ultimately led to his death at just 36 years old.
On the day his father, Bill Parker, recently revealed his son had told Dial was “the happiest day of my life”, the couple set out on a climb towards the summit of Cathedral Peak in the Yosemite High Country.
Then, after Parker popped the question, the newly-engaged couple went their separate ways, and the groom-to-be made his way to the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park.
To get there, he scaled the mile-long Matthes Crest, a slim, vertical rock with two summits divided by a deep crevice.
According to his father, Parker was a highly experienced climber who spent two years travelling the world, visiting countries including Thailand and New Zealand to pursue his passion.
He had also recently scaled Yosemite's Half Dome "in near-record time".
However, despite his experience, other climbers saw him plummet around 300 feet at around 5.45PM. According to Yosemite Park Ranger Kari Cobb, Parker had been climbing alone without ropes, a form of the sport called "free-soloing”. Although the route was well-established, it was not necessarily considered challenging to a skilled climber.
A spokesperson from Mountain Project told the Express: "Generally, people do the traverse from South to North. This is because the crest slopes upwards in that direction, and therefore, you will end up at a higher elevation. Doing it North to South would involve more downclimbing."
The company that serves as a guidebook to climbers claimed that despite the dangerous sound of it, Parker’s free-soloing approach was regarded as a sensible and practical way to tackle the summit.
After Parker was witnessed falling from the rock, park rangers searched for him to recover his body.
Sadly, as it became too late to summon a helicopter once they reached him, they stayed with him through the night. The next day, his body was retrieved by a helicopter.
