Miguel Riera death, obituary: Miguel Riera climber dies of cancer
Miguel Riera death, obituary: Legendary Miguel Riera climber has died of cancer at the age of 56.
A touching tribute from Tim Emmett reads:
Really sad news that the godfather of Deep Water Soloing, Miguel Riera (56) has passed away, to cancer. 😥
I first met Miguel back in the late 90’s when I heard about a climber in Mallorca that had been Deep Water Soloing.
Miguel sent us a picture of one of his friends in fluorescent yellow shorts high above the water on what looked like the most amazing DWS cliff we had ever seen. They had been climbing there 10 years earlier but his two team mates had stopped DWS and he was the only one still interested in it.
A Uk team including @neil.gresham, Mike Robertson @charliewoodburn and a Austrian team (Klem Loskott, Harry Berger, Stephan Keininger, we met up with Miguel and he showed us what’s now known as Cova De’l Diablo – The Cove of the Devil.
We started developing it with him and made a film with Klem – Dosage 2 – Psicobloc. Miguel was also instrumental in the evolution of deep water soloing competitions and also teamed up with @chris_sharma.
Miguel’s appetite for climbing was insatiable, he was always utterly psyched and loved bouldering and climbing above the waves. Anyone that’s tasted DWS in Mallorca will know it’s the best.
Miguel introduced it to the world and since then thousands of climbers have ventured to Mallorca to try it out, share the stoke with their friends, get scared and have fun ! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏💔 RIP Miguel .
Miguel Riera death, obituary:
Legendary climber Miguel Riera is celebrated as the climber who brought deep-water-soloing into the mainstream and over the years introduced climbers like Tim Emmett and Chris Sharma to the sport.
Another tribute in his honour from Yo Basecamp reads:
Very sad to learn of the passing of Miguel Riera, the godfather of Majorcan Pscibloc.
Miguel was the gracious host and ultimate embassador to legions of international climbers who went to Majorca to discover the magical world of deep water soloing.
As far as many were concerned, it was Miguel’s island, for he was the visionary who had introduced the world to his paradise; the art of climbing limestone caves above the warm Mediterranean sea.
He lived it, others visited. He had a twinkle in his eyes, loved dirty jokes, and couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. We will miss you very much amigo, the island will never be the same without you.
May his soul rest in perfect peace.