Shortoff Accident Today

Just caught the end of the live news coverage of the Shortoff rescue this afternoon. Short hauled the victim off of the face with Blackhawk, landed close by and transferred him to medical helicopter. News coverage said they were rapelling but who knows. If anyone has more details please share. Prayers and best wishes to the injured party.

I also caught the tail end of the rescue. It looked to be on or near LIttle Corner, although I didn't get a good enough look on the news feed to be sure of this. Hope they are ok.

Got home and watched it on bigger screen. When the camera pulled back it looked like they were climbers right of Manginot Line, right about that blunt arete. Looked at the guide. A couple 11's in there. Mr Wizzard, Big Arete. Just speculating. I have no knowledge of the climbers, the route, or the accident. Curious more than anything. Was just there climbing with my son yesterday. Always looking to learn from incidents like this.

There is a story in the News Herald, but it offers very few details. Here is my post from the other thread on the same topic:

Here is the story from the Morganton News-Herald morganton.com/news/article_…

Not much detail. Apparently the 23 year old climber fell about 25 feet and was air lifted to Mission Hospital in Asheville. His injuries are described as "non-life threatening" and he remained conscious throughout the rescue. Major Jason Black of Burke County EMS described "this is a common incident in the area." “It’s a hazard of the sport (rock climbing),” Black said. “I’ve not heard about how he fell, but it’s not uncommon to have climbing injuries at the gorge.”

Hope the injured party has a speedy recovery. Thanks to those who helped with his rescue.

Scott

morganton.com/news/article_…