0
Renowned Composer Dies Climbing Infamous California Trail
May 11, 2026
Posted 2 hours ago by
Mark Smythe via FacebookMark Smythe, a New Zealand composer known for his work on horror films and concert music, has died after collapsing on a notoriously difficult hiking trail in Sierra Madre. The 53-year-old was found unresponsive on the Mount Wilson Trail near Rescue Ridge on May 9, according to the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team. Relatives and friends were performing CPR when rescuers arrived, alongside firefighters from the Sierra Madre Fire Department, but Smythe was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials have not yet released the cause of death. Tributes were paid to the composer on social media. “It is a comfort to know that he was doing one of the things he loved, hiking in the hills,” his sister, Pepe Becker, wrote in a post on Facebook. The fatality is the second reported on the trail this month after another hiker died after falling a “significant distance” into a ravine earlier in May.Read it at The New York PostRead more at The Daily Beast.
The Daily Beast
Coverage and analysis from United States of America. All insights are generated by our AI narrative analysis engine.