World News | Climber Who Survived 400-foot Fall That Killed 3 Others Was Unconscious Before Seeking Pay Phone
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. It was late in the afternoon and lightly snowing when four rock climbers, working their way up a steep gully between two peaks in Washington's North Cascades Range, decided to turn around for a descent down the mountain that would claim three of their lives.
Seattle, May 15 (AP) It was late in the afternoon and lightly snowing when four rock climbers, working their way up a steep gully between two peaks in Washington's North Cascades Range, decided to turn around for a descent down the mountain that would claim three of their lives.
As they climbed down, the four attached their ropes to a piton — a metal spike pounded into rock cracks or ice and used to secure ropes — that had been placed by a past climber. As one of the men began rappelling off the piton, it ripped out of the mountain, sending all four falling past ice and snow and rock.
They fell some 200 feet, landing in a more sloping ravine where they tumbled for another roughly 200 feet before coming to a stop in a tangle of rope.
Three were killed by the fall. One was knocked unconscious.
Anton Tselykh awoke in the dark. It had been hours since the fall.
Over the course of the next several hours, he extricated himself from the mess of ropes, gear and debris and trekked over rough terrain of rock and snow — with help from a pick-like ice tool — to his car.
He drove for some 64 kilometres before finding a pay phone and calling for help in Newhalem, an unincorporated community about an hour's drive away.
It was Sunday morning, eight hours since he regained consciousness.
From a Seattle hospital Wednesday morning, Tselykh, recovering from head trauma and internal bleeding, told authorities what had happened.
He was in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Centre, meaning he was not in the intensive care unit, Susan Gregg, media relations director for UW Medicine, said in an email.
Tselykh, 38, confirmed authorities' theories of what led to the deaths of his three companions, identified as Vishnu Irigireddy, 48; Tim Nguyen, 63; and Oleksander Martynenko, 36. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)