As reported yesterday, an ice climber was found dead on Thursday at Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway.The Wilkes Journal Patriot today identified the climber as Ralph Edward Fickel of Boone, North Carolina.
Fickel, a veteran rock climber, was found Thursday about 200 feet below the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Ice Rocks, a popular site for ice climbing about a half mile south of the Bluffs Restaurant at Doughton Park near Laurel Springs.
Fickel worked as a climbing guide for Rock Dimensions, a Boone-based company that provides guided climbing trips.
According to the Rock Dimensions website, Fickel had been climbing mountains for over 30 years. He was responsible for over 70 first ascents on rock and ice in North Carolina, New Hampshire and Maine and had climbed various routes in the High Sierras, the Grand Tetons, desert Southwest, and two recent 6,000+ meter peaks in the Nepal Himalayas.
He had worked in mountain rescue for the Appalachian Mountain Club and the National Park Service, where he has served as a park ranger in North Carolina. He was also employed at one point as an instructor for the North Carolina Outward Bound School.
Fickel completed the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) Toprope Site Manager Course in December 2005. In May 2008 he earned certification as a single pitch instructor with the Professional Climbing Instructors Association. He also had a master's degree in geography from Appalachian State University.
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Jeff
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