Four climbers fell several hundred feet, and as the granite towers decreased in Washington, leaving only one survivor who left, and told 911 dispatchers that his fellow died and he was “hard to breathe”, said the Associated Press on Thursday.
38 -year -old Anton Tselykh fell on Saturday night about 400 feet (122 meters), suffered by internal injuries and head injury. By Sunday morning, more than a dozen hours later, he called 911 from a work phone at a distance of about 40 miles (67 kilometers).
“The whole team came down,” Tselykh told the dispatcher. “My face is very well beaten, hands and ribs, I can breathe hard.”
According to radio magazines, those who responded to Tselykh eventually reported to his head bruises and leaked from his ears.
Here’s what we still know about the accident and Tselykh’s night escape.
What caused the climbers’ fall?
It was Saturday afternoon and easily snowing early winter edges, with four climbers working in a steep channel, decided to turn around for a descent that would claim three of their lives.
While traveling down, they attached the ropes to the python, a metal spike inserted into rock cracks or ice and used to attach ropes – helped by the past climber. When one of the men began to crawl off the python, he erupted from the hill, sending all four emanating from ice, snow and rock.
“We fundamentally slipped and rolling down, like all of us, to the bottom of the Couloir and just below,” Tselykh told the 911 dispatcher. Couloir is a big drain down from the mountain.
After falling, Tselykh lost consciousness.
Pytons are often left in the walls of climbers and can remain there for years or even decades, becoming less safe over time. It is usually common for climbers to set up a spare anchor, said Joshua Cole, CEO and co -owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides.
However, it is still unclear whether the four had a backup.
How did the surviving climber escape?
It is unknown why Tselykh survived in the fall when others did not, but he woke up in a rope in a few hours. It was dark outside, and he could only find two bodies of his companions in the dark, he told 911 dispatcher, saying, “I was lucky to survive.”
Tselykh retreated from ropes, equipment and garbage, and through a mountain-red rock and snow-launched from the chosen ice tool. “There is no trail, basically wild,” Tselykh sent. “I was able to land very slowly.”
When he arrived in his car, Tselykh drove about 40 miles (67 kilometers) and ran into a security handle at a time, the police said. Upon arrival at the uncorpised Newhalem community, Tselykh called 911 early Sunday.
He apologized to the dispatcher for his voice and said he could barely breathe. Despite suffering brain injuries and other serious internal injuries, he told the dispatcher that he did not think he needed immediate medical attention. “I feel good, I mean I don’t need an emergency,” he said.
The dispatcher asked him to stay if he was such that the medical staff could check him and the authorities could take his message. He was later hospitalized.
By Wednesday morning, he was in a satisfactory condition at the Seattle Harborview Medical Center, which means that he was not in the intensive care unit – e -mail. Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for UW Medicine, said in a letter.
Who were climbers and how were their bodies recovered?
The three -person search and rescue team responded after Tselykh’s call, using coordinates from the GPS device that climbers were wearing, Cristina Woodworth, the leading team, told the team.
Three dead climbers were identified as Vishnu Irigateddy, 48; Tim Nguyen, 63; and Olexander Martynenko, 36. Treatment of the terrain needed a helicopter to remove their body, Woodworth said.
Ap tried to reach several members of his family but did not hear.
Four climbers were friends, some of whom had previously climbed together and appeared quite experienced, Woodworth said, adding that Tselykh was “obviously very affected.”
Irigrieddy was a Vice President of Engineering Fluke Corporation, a test equipment manufacturing company that announced a statement on Wednesday.
“Vishnu was an extraordinary leader, and his loss is felt abundantly throughout our organization,” the report states.
Martynenko’s wife, Olga, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that her husband, who she mentioned as Alex, also left her son. She shared a reference to the voter of the funds to help “during the devastating time of our lives”.
“I still can’t believe you are gone, my love,” the report states.
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Bedayn is a member of the Associated Press/Report America Statehouse News. The America report is a non -profit national service program, where journalists in local news halls report secret questions.