Cliff-side service for an unconventional man

WITH his long tresses and his habit of wearing jeans and the Cork O2 GAA jersey when performing his magic, Michael Reardon didn’t fit the conventional image of a rock climber. How he presented himself was more in keeping with our notion of a rock musician.

He was once in a glam rock band — his longtime friend Mark Niles said yesterday that when he first met him he wore more make-up than his wife, Marci.

Mr Reardon was one of the world’s elite free-soloists, meaning he climbed by himself with no ropes or protection of any kind.

In the end, though he died on a cliff, it wasn’t from a fall. Standing on a ledge just above the sea, a freak wave came in and swept him into the surf. Within seconds he had been swept out 150m.

His friend, Damon Corso, tried to throw him a rope and watched helplessly as he struggled in vain against the huge swell. And though the Valentia lifeboat was on the scene within 20 minutes, it was too late.

Yesterday, on the cliff, about 300 people attended a simple and poignant ceremony to mark the tragedy. His wife and teenage daughter, Nicki, had flown from California, as had some friends from the US. There was music and prayers, poetry and prose, above the last cliff where he had climbed.

At the end of the ceremony, two members of the Coastguard placed a wreath in the sea. The crashing waves were a reminder of the force that carried him way.

* Read more about the late Michael Reardon on www.freesoloist.com