Michael J. Ybarra, a former Times reporter who recently told his adventures in extreme sports for The Wall Street Journal, was killed in a climbing fall during the weekend at the edge of Yosemite National Park. Was 45.
An experienced climber, was left alone to cross the rocky crest of the Eastern Sierra and the summit of Matterhorn Peak Sawtooth 12.280 feet before falling to about 200 meters until he died, said his sister, Suzanne Ybarra.
His family reported his disappearance on Sunday, a rescue team and realized that his body on Tuesday in a rugged area of ??difficult access by foot, according to Kari Cobb, a park ranger. His body was found on a hillside, said his sister.
"He died doing what he loved most," he wrote in his Facebook page.
In a statement, the Wall Street Journal Ybarra called "an outstanding journalist. According to the best traditions of his profession has enlightened and engaged readers in a wide range of topics in a clear and lively prose."
Although their activities outdoors often are inherently dangerous, often made jokes about their fears and sometimes face in his writings. A piece he wrote in May last year for the Journal of whitewater kayaking with the title: "When death is only one stroke Away."
That same month, Ybarra, wrote about how "he straddled the edge of the knife between caution and confidence" before the fall frosts during the climb mountains near Bozeman, Montana.
"Climbing a mountain is a serious thing," he wrote in the Journal. "Mistakes have consequences - for you and your partner awake at night wondering if I wanted to go to a rock climbing gym or finding the most sensitive sports like table tennis" ..
About five years ago, in essence, Ybarra decided to live on the road and his car to follow her passion for adventure, said Bret Israel, Sunday Calendar editor of The Times, who met the writer When Ybarra interned in the Metro department of the end of 1980.
Ybarra was also the author of a biography noted, "Washington Gone Crazy", which arose from the report by The Times. The book tells the story of Pat McCarran, a former senator from Nevada who has exercised his power during the anticommunist hysteria of the 1950.
When time was called one of the best books of 2004, the reviewer pronounced "master," said Ybarra and "meticulously recounts McCarran rise to power" in creating "... an indispensable tool nuanced assessment" of a period in recent history.
The biography also was a finalist for the Times Book Prize 2005.
Michael Jay Ybarra was September 28, 1966, in Los Angeles to Eugene Ybarra, Los Angeles Unified School District administrator, and his wife Lillie, a social worker.
During his senior year at UCLA, political science major at times started practice in 1988 one year that included a stint with the Washington Office.
After earning a degree in political science from UC Berkeley in the 1990, Ybarra held various practices and spent four years working for The Wall Street Journal, but took advantage of the limitations of a full time job in a large organization.
As a freelance writer, Ybarra has contributed to numerous publications, including The Times, where he wrote about nature and art in the West for over two decades.
One of his recent articles in The Times about an exhibition in Venice, photo gallery of the Eastern Sierra, will be published on Sunday.
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