Yosemite Death Of LA Climber Under Investigation

LOS ANGELES, CA — Authorities are investigating the deaths of two best friends who plummeted to their deaths while scaling El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Forty-two-year-old Tim Klein, a teacher from Palmdale, and Jason Wells, 46, of Boulder, Colorado were both experienced rock climbers who had scaled the famous peak many times before Saturday, when they fell 1,000 feet to their deaths.. The two were killed Saturday morning when they fell, officials said. The National Park Service said the two fell about 8:15 a.m. while climbing the Freeblast route on the sheer granite rock.

The two men began climbing together since college in San Diego, Wayne Willoughby, a friend of the pair told Climbing.com.

“Tim told me that Jason was the strongest and best partner he every climbed with,” he said. "“This would have been Tim’s 107th [in a day] El Cap ascent,” continued Willoughby. “Two weeks ago, in a typical weekend, Jason flew out from Boulder to Fresno and Tim picked him up from the airport. Then they climbed the Nose on Saturday and did it again on Sunday, and then on Sunday afternoon Jason flew home to his family.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, eight people have died climbing that stretch over the last decade, including s climber who died in September on El Capitan when a rock crashed down on a pair of climbers.

City News Service contributed to this report. YOSEMITE NTL PARK, CA - JUNE 18: El Capitan above the Merced River on June 18, 2016 in Yosemite National Park, California. (Photo by David Calvert/Getty Images)