Climber who survived 400-foot fall that killed his 3 companions was unconscious for hours

Winnipeg Free Press

14-05-2025

A rock climber in Washington who survived a fall of hundreds of feet that killed his three companions lay unconscious for hours before waking in the dark, trekking out and driving to a pay phone to summon help, authorities said he told them on Wednesday.
Speaking from a Seattle hospital, Anton Tselykh, 38, confirmed investigators' theory that an anchor he and his companions were using to rappel down the Early Winters Spires in the North Cascade Range had pulled out of the rock face, plunging all four men 400 feet (122 meters).
'They were all gathered at that piton anchor point, and one person was on rappel, when that piton came loose and pulled all of them down,' said Cristina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff's search and rescue team and spoke with Tselykh by phone.
Tselykh lost consciousness after the fall for several hours before awaking in the dark in a tangle of ropes and gear. Woodsworth said he had internal bleeding and head trauma.
It took Tselykh eight hours to disentangle himself, work his way down the rough terrain of rock and snow with help from a pick-like ice tool to his car, drive to a nearby town and call for help, Woodworth said.
The four climbers were friends, some of whom had climbed together before and appeared fairly experienced, Woodworth said, adding that Tselykh was 'obviously very much affected by this.'
The climbers who were killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, Oleksander Martynenko, 36, the Okanogan County coroner said.
Olga Martynenko, Martynenko's wife, said Tuesday in a Facebook post that her husband, whom she referred to as Alex, also left behind their son. She shared a link to a fundraiser to help 'during the most devastating time of our lives.'
'I still cannot believe that you are gone, my love,' she said.