26-Year-Old Yoseph Alabdulwahab Was “Everyone’s Best Friend”

Every January, we share a tribute to members of our community who we lost last year. Some were legends, others were pillars of their community, all were climbers. Read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2025 here.

Yoseph Alabdulwahab, 26, July 6

Yoseph Alabdulwahab “was everyone’s best friend. He never met a stranger,” said close friend Maddi Fultz. Alabdulwahab, 26, died on July 26, in a canyoneering accident in North Carolina.

Alabdulwahab was introduced to climbing while living in Jackson, Mississippi—a state that may take first prize for the least climbing in the nation—but he didn’t let that stop him. “He was so psyched that he would drive hours every week to visit crags in Alabama and Tennessee,” said Fultz.

Gregarious and warm-hearted, Alabdulwahab made countless friends in the Southeast’s climbing community. “Whether we were exploring a boulderfield or posting up at one of his favorite crags, if he didn’t know everyone there, he would by the end of the day,” Fultz recalled. Despite his large network of climbing buddies, Fultz said Alabdulwahab made all feel equally valued and appreciated. “He remembered so many details about everyone he met, and always made you feel like you were the most interesting person in the world,” she said.

At the time of his death, Alabdulwahab had relocated to the climbing mecca of Chattanooga, and Fultz said that as a climber, he didn’t shy away from anything, whether hard trad at Tennessee Wall, bouldering at Stone Fort or Rocktown, or sport at Sand Rock or Sucka Cave. He also dabbled in multi-pitch on the walls of Linville Gorge. Fultz said that off the wall, her friend also loved mountain biking, caving, canyoneering, and trail running (“on his ‘rest days’”). A keen cyclist, Alabdulwahab helped create a program for underprivileged children in Chattanooga to receive bikes for free. After his death, the fund was renamed in his honor.

Alabdulwahab was also particularly fond of mentoring new climbers and getting gym climbers psyched on climbing outdoors. “He cultivated a level of community and fellowship that is so difficult to create,” Fultz said. “He was the glue of every trip, and always started climbing days with the best Spanish latte you’ve ever had, and ended the day with an incredible homemade meal.” She said Alabdulwahab was also proud of his Saudi heritage, and loved visiting his family in Saudi Arabia every year. He is survived by his father and mother, Sherif and Reem, as well as two brothers and a sister.

“He passed with many open projects,” Fultz said, “but his climbing legacy lives on through his FA’s, several bolted lines, and a community that misses him dearly.”

Read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2025 here.

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