A rock climber who fell hundreds of feet descending a steep gully in Washington’s North Cascades mountains survived the fall that killed his three companions, hiked to his car in the dark and then drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said Tuesday.
The surviving climber, Anton Tselykh, 38, extricated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other equipment after the fall Saturday evening. Despite suffering internal bleeding and head trauma, Tselykh eventually, over at least a dozen hours, made the trek to the pay phone, Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell said.
The climbers who were killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, Oleksander Martynenko, 36, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said.
I was a search and rescue mountaineer EMT for a decade in a very busy county.
This is good advice, but most people don’t do things risky enough to need one. The most important thing people who are less extreme can do is tell someone you trust where you’re going (including your planned route) and when they should worry that you haven’t returned (when to call for rescue). Do it for every hike. Stories like this one make headlines, but most rescues are for things like busted ankles.