Massachusetts Author Dies In Fall On Mt. Rainier

GREENWATER, WA — A Rowley, Massachusetts, author and journalist was identified this week as the climber who fell to his death last Friday on Mount Rainier. The Pierce County Medical Examiner on Thursday said Robert Moll, 41, died of traumatic injuries sustained during his fall from Barrier Peak, near Owyhigh Lake.

According to The News Tribune, park rangers around 12 p.m. July 19 learned a man had fallen about 100 feet off Barrier Peak.

Immediately after Moll's fall, his climbing partner was able to reach him but reportedly found him unresponsive. By the time rescue teams arrived to airlift him, Moll had already passed.

The medical examiner's office could not explain how Moll came to fall from the 6,521-foot peak on Mount Rainier's Eastside.

Based on recent public Facebook posts, Moll was touring Pacific Northwest mountain ranges this summer.

According to an obituary posted by InterVarsity Press, a Christian publication and extension of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA in Westmont, Illinois, Moll leaves behind his wife Clarissa and their four children.

A GoFundMe account seeking $200,000 to assist Moll's family was created Tuesday. The account reportedly raised $10,845 within one day.

A former reporter for Christianity Today, the Grayslake Times, and Citizen Media, Moll was also the author of two books, "The Art of Dying" and "What Your Body Knows About God."

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