ROCK climber Michael Reardon pushed himself to the limit of his abilities, but ships were never meant to remain in harbours.

Tribute was paid to the fearless way the solo climber lived his life, at a moving ceremony on the cliff-top overlooking his last dramatic climb on Valentia Island, Co Kerry yesterday.

Up to 150 people gathered in sunshine to pay their respects to the 35-year-old American who was washed out to sea on Friday, after scaling the cliff-face twice.

A hundred feet below, Navy and Garda sub-aqua teams scoured the sea-bed for any trace of the man renowned among climbers and mountaineers for his daring exploits without ropes or safety equipment.
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The wife and teenage daughter of the world-famous American climber who was swept out to sea off the Kerry coast are clinging to hope that he is still alive.

Michael Reardon's wife, Marci and their daughter, Nicki (13) arrived in Ireland from Los Angeles at lunchtime yesterday and went straight to the cliff where he was last seen.

There they met with rescue personnel involved in the search and watched as efforts to find the climber continued.

Marci and Nicki are said to be hopeful that Michael is still alive as he is a particularly strong swimmer and a superbly fit man.

A vigil is to be held for his safe return tomorrow in Valentia. The family were accompanied yesterday by Kerry mountaineer, Con Moriarty, a close friend of the missing man.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the photographer who was with Mr Reardon when he fell into the sea tried to throw him a rope. Visual contact was also maintained with Mr Reardon for some moments and he also responded to calls.

The photographer then ran to alert the local lifeboat which was immediately launched.
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Valerie O'Sullivan, a photographer from Killarney who had accompanied him on a number of climbs, told The Times that his death had shocked the climbing community in Ireland.

"He was standing below a climb he had just completed and the photographer, Damon Corso, was about 30ft away taking pictures of him.

"Michael was on a real high after the climb. He was about 10ft above the sea and he let go and had his hands out, celebrating, to say he had completed the climb of his life. But then a rogue wave just came in.

"The wave hit him on the knees and he lost his balance and slipped on the algae. He was shouting for help but there was nothing Damon could do.

Miss O'Sullivan said Mr Corso raised the alarm from his mobile telephone. "It is very unpredictable and there are some very powerful waves," she continued. "It's a bottomless pit made up of caves and caverns below the water. It is treacherous.
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Michael Reardon, 36, the accomplished free soloist based out of Oak Park, California, went missing off the southwestern coast of Ireland around 5 p.m. Friday. He had just completed a climb near the Valentia Marine Radio Station, on the small island of Valentia, when a rogue wave took him into the sea. He did not fall 70 feet from the cliff top, or while climbing, as earlier reports had indicated. This is a report from his friend, the photographer Damon Corso, who was there at the time:

"It was just another day of climbing on Atlantic sea cliffs in Ireland with Mike (Reardon). We had arrived on Valentia Island in a slight fog and drizzle. Mike took me around the bottom of Wireless Point to an inlet merely 15 feet above the roaring Atlantic, a situation we were now used to. We arrived at a spot he had climbed at alone two weeks prior. Mike up and downed two different climbs while I shot photos trying to combine him and the raw force of the waves crashing all around us. He finished the two climbs and was waiting, on an-algae covered platform, for the big swells to pass by so that he could walk back over to me on the opposite side of the inlet. A rouge wave came into the inlet and curved rightwards as it crashed into Mike. He tried to stabilize himself on the platform but the water was too powerful and sucked him in. The current pulled Mike out 150-plus meters in mere seconds. I ran up the hill to the Valentia Coast Guard station a mile away. Mike was still conscious in the water when I left him. The Coast Guard arrived on the scene no more than 15 minutes after the incident. Mike was nowhere to be seen at this point. Twelve volunteer rescue boats, the Coast Guard Lifeboat and Chopper were on the scene that evening."

Rescue services worked until dark on Friday. And on Saturday, more Coast Guard boats and divers from the Naval Service combed the area, with searchers on foot looking along the shore. A helicopter with an infrared scanner searched on Friday and Saturday as well. Reardon had not been found as of Sunday, when it was reported that the search was scaling back

Please stay tuned to climbing.com for more. The press can contact msamet@climbing.com.

Sources: Damon Corso, www.rte.ie

THE devastated photographer friend of world-famous rock climber Michael Reardon, who was swept away by a freak wave while standing on a flat ledge along the coast of Kerry, has spoken of the tragic irony of the incident.

"The sad irony of it was that Michael wasn't climbing at the time. He was standing about a metre away from the sea on a flat ledge, which was only about three feet over the Atlantic, when a rogue wave came and knocked him over," said Con Moriarty.

"It buckled his knees so he fell onto his back and slid down an algae ledge and into the surf where he was unable to get back again. He was carried by a current and was last seen a few hundred metres out, shouting and waving."

Mr Reardon, an American in his early 30s and one of the world's leading free solo climbers, was staying with Mr Moriarty at the foot of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks, Co Kerry, during a month-long visit to the area, designed to promote Irish adventure holidays to the US market.

"We were to have dinner later that night," the stunned photographer explained. "He was anxious to taste some malt whiskey before he went home. He was here for a month and due to go home yesterday."
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The search has resumed for a missing climber from the United States who was swept out to sea off Valentia Island two days ago.
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...Mr Reardon had been walking along the top of a cliff at Dohilla when he slipped on some heavy kelp and was unable to regain his footing. He plunged some 75ft into the sea below. The alarm was raised by his fellow climbers.

A major search operation for an American man who fell 70 feet into the sea off the Kerry coast is winding down for the night and due to resume at first light The missing man is 32 year old Michael Reardon, from Connecticut... one of the world's leading Free Soloists..

An air and sea search off the Kerry coast for an American tourist who fell from rocks on Valentia Island has been called off for the night.

The search is due to resume at first light tomorrow.
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