Wisconsin Man Dies From Fall At Devils Tower

On September 22, 2024, shortly before 8:00 p.m. Devils Tower Law Enforcement was informed of a rock climber who sustained a fall.

Responding staff found the injured party, and their climbing partner, around 8:40 p.m.

Stewart Phillip Porter, a 21-year-old male from Eau Claire, WI, was rappelling the second pitch of El Cracko Diablo when he fell, sustaining major injuries.

He was pronounced dead on scene by a Hulett EMS Paramedic.

Porter’s partner was stranded and later rescued from the wall of the Tower, with help from Devils Tower Lodge Climbing Guides and Buck Wild Climbing Guides.

During the 100 plus year climbing history at the Tower, there have only been seven climbing deaths.

While climbing fatalities at Devils Tower are infrequent, it is still inherently dangerous.