Will Stanhope Dies After Climbing Accident, Convenient Since He Was Due in Court for Sexual Assault

So many people go on and on about how inclusive and welcoming the climbing community is, but as a climber of over a decade I’ve come to deeply understand what a fallacy this belief is. Climbing’s reputation as “chill” and “laid back” is simply expert branding and PR of a wildly violent, toxic masculine industry (unlike any other) made up of predominantly entitled white men.

The recent news of Will Stanhope’s fatal accident while climbing in Squamish brought this to light, as did Charlie Barrett being sentenced to life in prison two years ago for multiple instances of sexual assault and intimate partner violence.

Stanhope didn’t just climb rocks, he also climbed the rape culture pyramid all the way to the top being charged by the government of British Columbia with sexual assault. You can search his first and last name here in the Government of British Columbia’s database. Below is a screenshot from the database of his charges. The charges include: criminal harassment, Mischief, and assault in November 2024, sexual assault in December 2024, and several other asault charges throughout 2025.

Though court records only reflect one case of sexual assault, after I posted to Mountain Project asking folks about their knowledge of rape culture in the climbing world, an anonymous source shared with me that, “Will’s issues and violence against women had been an open secret for a long time,” and that they had heard about his violence for years.

“Yet these men still happily climbed with and celebrated him because he was part of the in-group,” the source continues. “I’m sure you can dig up his court records online, although the rumors certainly pre-dated his official record. Obviously a sensitive topic with his recent death, but so frustrating to see nothing has changed since Charlie Barrett and that his victims won’t ever get justice.”

The source also shared their experience with Barrett:

“Charlie made advances on me (and many other local Tahoe female climbers) which I rebuffed because his history with women was an open secret. All the local dudes knew, but many kept climbing with him anyways. Tbh the only reason I heard from men for not climbing with Charlie was that they didn’t want to deal with his alcoholism/bipolar/mood swings. They didn’t care at all about how he treated women. They didn’t and still don’t feel any responsibility for calling out this behavior. I continue to hear men justify this type of behavior by blaming women for not saying no or not leaving. Even these ‘progressive’ men have zero empathy for those in abusive and manipulative relationships.”

The silence of climbing bros when it comes to Barrett and Stanhope is defeaning. (Someone on Reddit also briefly implied that Marc Andre Leclerc might’ve had a history of sexual assault. If you know anything about this please email us at heyterracollective@gmail.com). The stomach-turning thing is that men like Barrett and Stanhope got away with their horrific behavior because the climbing “community” is made up of permissive, cowardly men who say, "but he was such a good guy." Or, "But he was so talented and contributed so much to the 'community.'" Or, "He was such a rad, chill dude."

“Rad, chill, good guys” don't commit sexual violence.

As Chani Nicholas says, "If we are not being traitors to any kind of privilege that we hold, we are being accomplices to the ways in which it engenders more and more violence."

“Many of the prominent male (and female, unfortunately) climbers lionizing Will Stanhope after his death…are the same ones who have talked publicly about the need for the climbing community to hold itself accountable for enabling predators,” shared my anonymous source. For too long, men and yes, sometimes women, have been accomplices to sexual assault and rape because they fail to center the victims/survivors and believe them.

As Annette McGivney reported in her expose about Charlie Barrett, Alex Honnold admitted that he had heard “rumors around the campfire” about Barrett’s violence but our guess is that he dismissed them because it was more convenient to keep climbing with his friend than to confront him about what was being said. There's a deep rage that lives in my belly for men that are put on pedestals by other men despite their well-known predatory reputation of sexual assault and violence.

Will Stanhope died and now he’ll never get the chance to assault another human again. Good. I have no qualm with speaking "ill of the dead" if the dead did ill things. If Stanhope didn't want to be remembered for his disgusting behavior then he shouldn't have behaved that way. Who knows what would've happened during his five day trial that was scheduled for this upcoming December 2026. Who knows what consequences or not (most likely not) Stanhope would've faced.

Someone on Mountain Project shared that Marina, Stanhope's climbing partner on the day he died, revealed that the last thing Stanhope said, just before the fatal pitch, was a plea to God: "Give me one last chance."

Well, it appears God deemed that he was fresh out of chances. Now, he’ll never again get the chance to ruin another woman's life.

Though Stanhope will continue to be glorified among famous and non-famous climbers alike, at Terra we’ll never stop speaking the truth about violent men. As someone on Reddit said, ““Being a rapist should rightfully hurt your legacy. Will Stanhope is no legend.”

If you’re unsure of what to do when someone tells you they’ve experienced sexual assault here is a good place to start. We encourage you to do your own research as well.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth article on rape culture in the climbing world. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out if you know of people, brands, organizations, etc. in the climbing world that should be on our radar for enabling and perpetuating rape culture. Email: heyterracollective@gmail.com