Freesolo rock climber John Bachar injured in fatal car accident

August 26, 2006

American freesolo rock climber John Bachar was injured in a car crash in Nevada, in which a co-passenger was killed.

At approxiamately 7:25 p.m. on Sunday, August 13, Forty-nine year-old Bachar of Mammoth Lakes, California, 49, was driving southbound on U.S. Route 93, about 33 miles north of Ely, Nevada, when he allowed his Toyota 4Runner to drift off the west edge of the road and struck a mile-marker post. Bachar overcorrected to the left, causing the Toyota to rotate counterclockwise and travel across both lanes to the east side of the road.

The vehicle began to rollover towards its right side at this point, and a passenger was ejected. Steve Karafa of El Sobrante, California, 40, who had been sleeping in the back seat when the accident occurred, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Bachar suffered numerous injuries in the crash, including four fractured vertibrae, and was transported to the William B. Ririe Hospital in Ely. A third passenger, Anastasia Frangos of Santa Paula, California, 33, was not seriously injured.

The trio was travelling home from the Outdoor Retailer Trade Show in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they had been represententing Acopa International LLC. Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Rocky Gonzalez said driver inattention and speed contributed to this accident, as well as two other crashes in the nearby area over the same weekend.