“Hanging From a Rope 3,000 Feet in the Air”: Iconic Photographer Captured ‘Daredevil’ Bride’s Picture on One of America’s Toughest Rock-Climbing Peaks in 2013

The Yosemite National Park in California has seen its fair share of climbers chart its rocky terrain. Many climbers over the years have visited the famed National Park to climb its various peaks including the El Capitan. However, in 2013, a woman braved the top of The Lost Arrow Spire, one of Yosemite’s toughest peaks, whilst dressed in a bridal outfit. She was wearing an all-white bridal dress, hanging onto a rope that was tied between two rocks at around 3,000 feet in height, in a photograph captured by a famous adventurer.

It seemed like someone had dared the woman into doing it before her wedding bash. But apparently, the bride was holding onto the rope with her bare arms and nothing to support. 3,000 feet above the ground and an abyss underneath, she had nowhere to go. The picture immediately made headlines then, but what was the story behind it?

Horton staged the scene for a wedding company

Ben Horton is a Nat Geo photographer, who thrives on going places where most others are unable to go. From thousands of feet underwater to thousands of feet above the ground, he has covered them all. The passion for the latter brought the photographer to Yosemite Park along with a few of his friends in 2013. He was to shoot a few breathtaking pictures for a wedding company started by his friend Gill Weiss. The bride-on-spire photograph was a part of that series.

Horton, Weiss, and their friend Brad had reached there with climbing gear and a wedding dress. Weiss convinced a couple of ladies to try on the dress and perform the act until one of them did it. Speaking to New York Post about his experience, Horton said, “Even though I’ve been shooting climbing for a long time, the thrill you get hanging from a rope 3,000 feet in the air never really quite goes away”.

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Climbing is no child’s play, considering the fact that some of the greatest rock climbers have been in some freak accidents. For Horton and company, it was a “rush” like nothing else. Luckily, everyone came out safe.

The risk they both took for their love of adventure and rock-climbing

While the ‘bride’s’ risque position was never in contention, Horton was on a daredevil mission of his own. He shot those pictures from the edge of another Yosemite cliff, besides which was nothingness. He said, “Even while standing on the spire, you only have about three feet in either direction before the ground drops away and you can look down on birds soaring thousands of feet above the valley floor”. People have rock climbed for more inspirational reasons, including a 9-year-old who did it in memory of his mother, and thus despite its risks, it remains a worthwhile endeavor to pursue.

Horton said that the adventure photoshoot was Weiss’ idea who has sadly passed away since. He died after taking a fall in Peru and was unable to launch the wedding company before his death. However, those iconic photographs remind Horton of his friend and of the need to live. He said, “I got served as a great reminder that life should be lived, and to pursue my dreams while I still can”.

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