Todd Skinner Climbing accident. Free-Climbing pioneer Todd Skinner, 47, was killed October 23, while descending fixed ropes on the Leaning Tower in Yosemite. Details of the accident are incomplete, but it appears that he and his partner Jim Hewitt were working on a free route on the 1,200-foot monolith. Skinner and his partner, Jim Hewitt, were rappelling the route Jesus Built My Hot Rod, and were several hundred feet above the base when the accident occurred. Apparently, Skinner went first, and suddenly fell; his rappel device and locking carabiner remained on the rope.
Skinner, with some 300 ascents, mostly all-free, in 26 countries, was arguably the most accomplished rock climber of the generation that marked the birth of sport Climbing.




