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Injured climber at Broughton - fast recovery!

Original Post
Dan G. · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 5

I wish the injured climber a speedy recovery. My head was turned away, but from what I heard people talking about, it sounds like he didn't suffer life-threatening injuries (after a 30 foot fall with a number of blown pieces). Also thanks to Search and Rescue for the extraction. Cheers, everyone! It was a great day, otherwise, and I met a bunch of nice people.
-Dan

berl · · Seattle · Joined Apr 2008 · Points: 25

what route?

Dan G. · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 5

Not sure, but it was close to "tip city" on hanging garden wall.

Nate Ball · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 11,254

I wasn't even there, but I've heard the accounts. He was on "Fun in the Mud." He had three pieces in and was placing a fourth when he slipped. His previous two pieces pulled, causing him to hit the deck. He fell from about 20 feet up. The resident backboard must have been used the previous season, so it wasn't at the Bat Wall where it should have been. Thus, the fire rescue newbs decided to: first, take him out of his climbing harness; next, put him in a descent harness; strap him to a backboard; put the backboard in a basket; tie a climbing rope to the basket; rig an anchor and have someone belay the board down; have several people carry him down the steepest part of the trail... in fact, a landslide from years ago that silly people use as an approach. The rescue took two hours. Thankfully, two of the legion climbers that day were a nurse and surgeon. Otherwise, had he sustained worse injuries, well... thankfully he didn't. We're all wishing him a fast recovery.

PS -- I'll probe around for how to get another backboard put in up there.

berl · · Seattle · Joined Apr 2008 · Points: 25

nate I think you mean Red Wall for the backboard, right? I'm just imagining your crew of fire rescuers running all the way out to the bat wall to get a back board, and setting up a tyrolean to get over the mud/stream from the cabbage fields.

JesseT · · Portland, OR · Joined May 2011 · Points: 100

I showed up that day just about the same time the EMT's did. I didn't think he was as far over as Fun in the Mud. Maybe Tip City or Lean Years. Like Nate said, the rescue crew seemed to be bumbling around a bit (though to be fair, they were EMT's and FD, not SAR). Several climbers (who are familiar with the area) were yelled at by the crew for trying to advise them that the way they took down was a poor choice for even a spry, unencumbered person. I applaud the patience of the rescuee, and wish him a speedy recovery.

Be careful out there, everyone. Especially when the rock has wet patches.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Pacific Northwest
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