Crews rescue fallen climber (GWI)

[jumar]

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=9194204


LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON -- Crews rescued an ice climber who fell more than 300 feet in Little Cottonwood Canyon Thursday afternoon.

The man was climbing by imself in the "Great White Icicle" area of the canyon. Witnesses called 911 when they saw one climber fall.

Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson said the man suffered a broken femur and a broken pelvis and was airlifted to Intermountain Medical Center in serious condition.

Investigators aren't sure what caused the man to fall.

Heard he was soloing? Anyone have more info?

[tanya]

more? new?

An ice climber who fell approximately 300 feet while climbing the Great White Icicle in Little Cottonwood Canyon Thursday was rescued by fellow ice climbers and emergency crews.

The man, who officials say is probably in his late 30s or early 40s, was climbing the mass of ice solo when he slipped and fell.

At around the same time, brothers Casey and Corey Hyers were wrapping up for the day around 1:30 p.m. They had already scaled the face of ice and were chatting with some snowshoers as they changed clothes and packed up to head out.

But as they glanced back at the icy slope they'd just traversed, they saw their fellow climber slip and then fall.

"He slid down all that solid ice that you can see," Casey said, nodding toward the frozen mass. "He was stopped by snow on that ledge, a tiny edge of ledge. If there hadn't been fresh snow there, it probably wouldn't have stopped him."

The brothers, who have been ice climbing for over a decade and were familiar with the area, had the snowshoer call 911. They then quickly hiked the 10 minutes back up to the base of the ice, carrying a backboard, and were able to get to the stranded climber within 30 minutes.

They said the man, who told them he was from Montana, was talking, joking and in pretty good spirits despite being in excruciating pain. Thinking they were going to have to physically lower him from the mountain, he screamed as they attempted to get him in a harness.

"He was in so much pain and we didn't want to cause anymore damage to the guy than he'd already caused to himself," Casey Hyer said.

Doug Heinrich, another climber who had just passed the man before the fall, also returned to the ledge to help and said they were hesitant to move the fallen climber too much because they didn't know how badly he was injured. The three climbers worked on keeping the man warm until a search and rescue crew could get him off of the mountain.

Rescuers and officials from the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, Unified Fire Authority and Life Flight were all at the scene and were able to get the man off of the ledge and en route to LDS Hospital within about two hours.

The rescue was the fourth at the same site in the past year, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Travis Skinner said. He said that the climb is relatively challenging and very popular.

Rescuers were able to use a helicopter to drop paramedic Mike Isom onto the ledge, who then secured the man into a mesh bag which was airlifted down to Little Cottonwood Canyon Road. From there, the man was loaded into the helicopter and taken to the hospital.

It takes a lot of skill," Skinner said. "There's snow blowing, you're sitting in a draft, it's just crazy."

Sheriff's officials believed the man had broken his leg and possibly his hip. Considering the long fall, he may be in serious condition.

"He looked pretty good," said Mike Warr of the Unified Fire Authority. "He was in a lot of pain, but he was really lucky."

Because the roadway had to be used as a landing pad, officials blocked traffic going up and down the canyons. Skinner said Alta and Snowbird ski resorts were at full capacity Thursday and the road closures, though relatively brief, coincided with the ski lifts.

He estimated there were as many as 20,000 vehicles parked at the two resorts, and he said the rescue backed traffic up as far as 12 miles up the canyon.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705355324/Fallen-climber-rescued.html?pg=2

[price1869]

http://alisaandcasey.blogspot.com/2010/01/exciting-day-of-ice-climbing.html

good friend of mine had a fairly "first-hand" account.

[Iceaxe]

That is an awesome first hand account. Thanks for the link. :2thumbs: