YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Family and friends say the two men who fell to their deaths while climbing El Capitan at Yosemite National park were elite climbers who partnered on routes since their college days in San Diego.

The National Park Service has said 45-year-old Jason Wells and 42-year-old Tim Klein were about 1,000 feet (300 meters) up the so-called Freeblast Route when they fell on Saturday.

Wells' Friend, Brady Robinson, tells the Washington Post in a story published Monday that the pair last month scaled two El Capitan routes in one weekend. He says each climb usually takes skilled climbers several days to complete.

Wells was a Boulder, Colorado investment manager.

Klein was a teacher from Palmdale, California who twice won his district's teacher of the year award.