Climber Brad Parker falls to his death in Yosemite hours after engagement

The family of an avid climber is grieving after the man fell 100 metres to his death in Yosemite National Park just hours after his girlfriend accepted his marriage proposal atop a mountain.

Brad Parker, 36, died when he fell from the face of Matthes Crest in Tuolumne Meadows, where he was climbing alone without ropes on Saturday, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported. Parker and his fiancée had earlier climbed the summit of Cathedral Peak, where he proposed.

"This is the happiest day of my life," Parker's father, Bill, recalled his son telling him, according to the paper.

Parker set off on his own to climb Matthes Crest, and witnesses saw him fall about 5.45pm local time. As it was so late in the evening, a recovery team had to stay with the body overnight before it could be flown out by helicopter, said Kari Cobb, a park spokeswoman.

Bill Parker told the Press Democrat he was left "stunned" by his son's death.

"What happened is so unbelievable," he said.