Even those who attempted to save Maya Humeau are grieving over her death on Tuesday on the Black Wall of Mt. Spalding close to Mt. Evans.
“It’s a really sad day… week really,” said Alpine Rescue’s Dawn Wilson.
Who was Maya Humeau?
Humeau, even at the age of 22, was an accomplished climber. She had encountered some of Colorado’s most strenuous and tough mountains. One of them was The Black Wall. On Mt. Spalding, a 13er to the north of Mt. Evans, it is a sheer face that rises in a gulch north of Summit Lake. At the moment of her accident, she was rappelling down the wall’s face. According to preliminary data, she apparently fell from a ledge while not being fastened to the wall, said Wilson. There was a 100-foot drop.
Maya, a student at CU, was an adept climber as well as an enthusiastic kayaker. She comes from a long line of talented athletes. Both her mother and father are well-known kayakers. Her mother, Dana Chladek, is a champion slalom canoeist who won a silver and bronze medal for the United States in the 1990s, and her father is a champion slalom canoeist.
“Maya was an amazing human being,” said family friend Paul Schelp. “She had an unquenchable thirst for adventure and will be dearly missed, but her spirit will surely live on among her family and friends.”
Read More: Maya Humeau’s last instagram post revealed after she fell 100ft to her death
