The city has warning signs and a security guard to prevent people from hiking the popular but forbidden Haiku Stairs, known as the Stairway to Heaven, in Windward Oahu.
But the security measures apparently haven’t stopped people from using it, including Don Tiki show singer and comedian Fritz Hasenpusch of Salem, Ore., who died while on a hike Sunday.
Hasenpusch, 62, who was on Oahu to help with singing and choreography for two upcoming shows, was climbing the steps with cast member Sherry Shaoling and had nearly reached the first landing early Sunday morning when they stopped to rest.
“He just kind of collapsed,” said his friend Kit Ebersbach, who heard about the death from the Hasenpusch family.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said Monday the death was due to a heart attack.
Ebersbach, musical director and a partner in Don Tiki, a group that specializes in South Seas exotica, said Hasenpusch had just completed a great week of rehearsals.
“His family thinks if he had to die, it was really a great way to go,” Ebersbach said. “He wasn’t in any prolonged pain, and he was in a beautiful place.”
The group had begun the hike before sunrise to avoid being blocked by a security guard who came on duty later in the day, he said.
Ebersbach said the Haiku Stairs had nothing to do with Hasenpusch’s death and that he could have died anywhere.
He said there were about 50 people hiking the stairs.
A city spokesman said several signs and security guards are posted to keep out trespassers.
Ebersbach said he’d like to see the city reopen the stairs.
“They should just make it safe,” he said.
Hasenpusch was the lead vocalist of a group called Schnazz in the mid-1970s.He also had been a KPOI deejay.
Ebersbach said Hasenpusch also played the guitar and harmonica and composed many of the group’s songs — a talent he brought with him when he became the lead vocalist for Don Tiki.
The group, which now does about two shows a year, was scheduled to play at the Honolulu Academy of Arts’ Doris Duke Theatre on Dec. 15 and at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Disney Concert Hall on Dec. 20.
Ebersbach said Hasenpusch’s family wants the shows to go on, and the group is considering moving forward with the engagements.
