A hiker who fell about 400 feet to his death Sunday was reaching for a wind-tossed hat when he toppled off the third peak of Olomana Trail, several hikers said.
The man, in his late 20s, landed about 400 feet below, beneath a thick canopy of trees that hampered firefighters’ efforts to get to him.
Firefighters responded to a call about a hiker in distress at about 10:50 a.m. and arrived 17 minutes later, said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Kevin Mokulehua.
People on the mountain helped direct firefighters in a helicopter to the man’s location using cellphones, and a firefighter rappelled to the ground to reach the man at about 12:15 p.m., Mokulehua said. The man was not breathing and had no pulse.
Firefighters took the man, who has not been identified, by helicopter to a nearby landing zone, where he was transferred to paramedics. An Emergency Medical Services report said the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Steve Gerates, who was leading friends on a hike up Olomana on Sunday, said he was on the second peak when the man fell.
He said he was helping the man’s friends search for him when he heard how he fell off the ocean side of the third peak.
He said the man was hiking with four friends when he lost his hat in the wind and went over an edge to retrieve it.
“He started sliding down the hill, and he kept on going and he tumbled,” Gerates said. “He went over to get a hat that they told him not to. He wouldn’t listen.”
Three friends of the man declined to comment.
The trail, which starts after about a half-mile walk onto Royal Hawaiian Golf Club property, is popular for its impressive views, but the trail has treacherous ridgelines and is considered advanced along the third peak by hiking enthusiasts.
Three other people since 2011 have died falling from the trail.
In June 2015 a 53-year-old Florida man, Glenn Vopper, died after he fell about 200 feet off the trail between the first and second peaks.
An off-duty firefighter, 28-year-old Mitchell Kai, died in January 2014 after falling 50 feet while hiking about 100 feet from the summit of the third peak, and social worker Ryan Suenaga, 44, died after falling 150 feet between the second and third peaks in April 2011.
Danielle Shackelford, a visitor from California, said she discovered the trail online while searching for the hike with the nicest views on Oahu. She said hiking to the first peak Sunday was “very eerie.”
“Every single person we’ve passed coming down has told us, ‘Be careful, somebody died,’” she said.
