Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 30, 1993 TAG: 9306300141
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Jason Randolph Williams, who was attending summer school at VMI, was rappelling down a cliff with two friends Monday evening above the Maury River.
The cadets had accomplished one round trip, but Williams lost his grip climbing back up the second time, said Lt. Col. Mike Strickler, a VMI spokesman.
Williams tumbled at least 100 feet and into the river.
Ryan James Strimple, a rising sophomore, and James W. Bray III, a rising senior, pulled Williams from the river.
The Lexington Life Saving and Rescue Squad received a call at 9:13 p.m.
Attempts to revive Williams at the site and at Stonewall Jackson Hospital were unsuccessful.
Williams was a rising sophomore, majoring in history.
He was from Toano, near Williamsburg.
VMI uses the cliff, which is about 125 feet high, for training and challenges on the post for freshman, ROTC and other groups, Strickler said. But no climbers are supposed to be in the area - behind the barracks and rifle range - without supervision and a certified instructor.
Had they asked permission to use the cliff, which is marked with a "No Trespassing" sign, they wouldn't have received it, Strickler said.
When climbers are allowed on the cliff, they use a belay, or a secured person who holds an end of the rope from the cliff above.
"That way, if a guy loses his footing, he falls about a foot and the rope catches him," Strickler said.
The cadets on Monday were using ropes to rappel down the cliff, but were "free climbing" back to the top when Williams fell, according to Strickler.
Visitation will be at Williamsburg Funeral Home in Toano today from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at York River Baptist Church.
by CNB