LOS ANGELES (MCT) — Michael J. Ybarra, a freelance writer who was an extreme-sports correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and who contributed articles about the arts and books to the Los Angeles Times, died in a mountain climbing fall in Yosemite National Park over the weekend, authorities said Thursday.

An adventurous traveler and veteran mountaineer, Ybarra, 45, was climbing alone in the Sawtooth Ridge area on the border of the park and Mono County and apparently fell 150 to 200 feet to his death, according to park ranger Kari Cobb. He was reported missing by his family Sunday and a rescue crew spotted his body Tuesday but a helicopter was not available to airlift his body out until Wednesday, Cobb said.