Latest news with #NorthCascades
Washington Post
15-05-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Sole survivor of a 400-foot rock climbing fall told 911 dispatcher he could 'hardly breathe'
A rock climber who survived a long fall that killed his three companions hiked back to his car despite serious injuries and told a 911 dispatcher that he could 'hardly breathe,' according to a recording obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. Anton Tselykh and his climbing partners were descending a gully between towering granite spires in Washington's North Cascades mountains on Saturday evening when an anchor securing their ropes tore out the rock. All four plummeted hundreds of feet. Tselykh lost consciousness and awoke several hours later in a tangle of ropes. He managed to trek to his car over snowy and rocky terrain and drive about 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the unincorporated community of Newhalem, where he called 911 early Sunday. He apologized to the dispatcher for his voice and said he could barely breathe. He reported that three of his companions had been killed in the fall, but he could only find two of their bodies in the dark. 'The whole team went down,' Tselykh said. 'We basically slid and rolled down, like all of us, to the bottom of the couloir and a little bit lower.' A couloir is a sheer gully that runs down a mountain. Despite suffering brain trauma and other serious internal injuries, he told the dispatcher that he didn't think he needed immediate medical help. 'My face is very well beaten, hands and my ribs, I can hardly breathe,' said Teslykh. 'But I feel OK, I mean, I don't need emergency.' The dispatcher asked him to stay were he was so that medics could check him out and authorities could take his report. He was later hospitalized. By Wednesday morning, he was in satisfactory condition at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, meaning he was not in the intensive care unit, Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for UW Medicine, said in an email.
The Independent
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Sole survivor of a 400-foot rock climbing fall told 911 dispatcher he could 'hardly breathe'
A rock climber who survived a long fall that killed his three companions hiked back to his car despite serious injuries and told a 911 dispatcher that he could 'hardly breathe,' according to a recording obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. Anton Tselykh and his climbing partners were descending a gully between towering granite spires in Washington 's North Cascades mountains on Saturday evening when an anchor securing their ropes tore out the rock. All four plummeted hundreds of feet. Tselykh lost consciousness and awoke several hours later in a tangle of ropes. He managed to trek to his car over snowy and rocky terrain and drive about 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the unincorporated community of Newhalem, where he called 911 early Sunday. He apologized to the dispatcher for his voice and said he could barely breathe. He reported that three of his companions had been killed in the fall, but he could only find two of their bodies in the dark. "The whole team went down," Tselykh said. 'We basically slid and rolled down, like all of us, to the bottom of the couloir and a little bit lower." A couloir is a sheer gully that runs down a mountain. Despite suffering brain trauma and other serious internal injuries, he told the dispatcher that he didn't think he needed immediate medical help. 'My face is very well beaten, hands and my ribs, I can hardly breathe,' said Teslykh. 'But I feel OK, I mean, I don't need emergency.' The dispatcher asked him to stay were he was so that medics could check him out and authorities could take his report. He was later hospitalized. By Wednesday morning, he was in satisfactory condition at Seattle 's Harborview Medical Center, meaning he was not in the intensive care unit, Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for UW Medicine, said in an email.
Associated Press
15-05-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Sole survivor of a 400-foot rock climbing fall told 911 dispatcher he could 'hardly breathe'
A rock climber who survived a long fall that killed his three companions hiked back to his car despite serious injuries and told a 911 dispatcher that he could 'hardly breathe,' according to a recording obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. Anton Tselykh and his climbing partners were descending a gully between towering granite spires in Washington's North Cascades mountains on Saturday evening when an anchor securing their ropes tore out the rock. All four plummeted hundreds of feet. Tselykh lost consciousness and awoke several hours later in a tangle of ropes. He managed to trek to his car over snowy and rocky terrain and drive about 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the unincorporated community of Newhalem, where he called 911 early Sunday. He apologized to the dispatcher for his voice and said he could barely breathe. He reported that three of his companions had been killed in the fall, but he could only find two of their bodies in the dark. 'The whole team went down,' Tselykh said. 'We basically slid and rolled down, like all of us, to the bottom of the couloir and a little bit lower.' A couloir is a sheer gully that runs down a mountain. Despite suffering brain trauma and other serious internal injuries, he told the dispatcher that he didn't think he needed immediate medical help. 'My face is very well beaten, hands and my ribs, I can hardly breathe,' said Teslykh. 'But I feel OK, I mean, I don't need emergency.' The dispatcher asked him to stay were he was so that medics could check him out and authorities could take his report. He was later hospitalized. By Wednesday morning, he was in satisfactory condition at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, meaning he was not in the intensive care unit, Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for UW Medicine, said in an email.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Climber describes how he somehow survived 400-FEET plunge in US mountains that killed his three friends after anchor they were tethered to gave way, sending them all plummeting
A rock climber has described how he miraculously survived a terrifying 400ft plunge that killed his three friends. Anton Tselykh, 38, had been climbing in Washington's North Cascades mountains when the anchor his group were tethered to gave way, sending them all plummeting down the rock face. Speaking from a hospital bed in Seattle, Tselykh recounted how the men fell for about 200 feet into a slanted gulch and then tumbled another 200 feet before coming to a stop. He described losing consciousness for several hours before waking up in the dark surrounded by a tangle of ropes and gear. Despite sustaining serious injuries, he then fought for eight hours to free himself before working his way down the rough terrain of rock and snow to his car. He then drove to a nearby town to call for help, he told Cristina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff's search and rescue team. 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, and Oleksander Martynenko, 36, the Okanogan County coroner said. Olga Martynenko, Martynenko's wife, said on 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. Falls like this leading to three deaths are extremely rare, said Woodworth. Seven years ago, two climbers were killed in a fall on El Capitan at Yosemite National Park in California. A three-person search and rescue team reached the site of the fall on Sunday. The team used coordinates from a device the climbers had been carrying, which had been shared by a friend of the men. Once they found the site, they called in a helicopter to remove the bodies one at a time because of the rough terrain, Woodworth said. On Monday, responders poured over the recovered equipment trying to decipher what caused the fall, Woodworth added. They found a piton - a small metal spike that is driven into rock cracks or ice and used as anchors by climbers - that was still clipped into the climbers' ropes. 'There´s no other reason it would be hooked onto the rope unless it pulled out of the rock,' said Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez, noting that pitons are typically stuck fast in the rock. He added that when rappelling, all four men would not have be hanging from the one piton at the same time, but taking turns moving down the mountain. Pitons are oftentimes left in walls. They can be there for years or even decades, and they may become less secure over time. 'It looked old and weathered, and the rest of their equipment looked newer, so we are making the assumption that it was an old piton,' Woodworth said. Rock climbers secure themselves by ropes to anchors, such as pitons or other climbing equipment. The ropes are intended to arrest their fall if they should slip, and typically climbers use backup anchors, according to Joshua Cole, a guide and co-owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides, who has been climbing in the area for about 20 years. Generally, it would be unusual to rappel off a single piton, said Cole, adding that it is still unknown exactly what happened on the wall that night. 'We eventually, if possible, would like to get more information from surviving party,' Woodworth said. The spires are a popular climbing spot. The route the climbers were taking, said Cole, was of moderate difficulty, and requires moving between ice, snow and rock. But the conditions, the amount of ice versus rock for example, can change rapidly with the weather, he said, even week to week or day to day, changing the route's risks. The Early Winters Spires, jagged peaks split by a cleft, is popular with climbers in the North Cascade Range, about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northeast of Seattle.
ABC News
15-05-2025
- ABC News
Three climbers fell 120 metres to their death. One survived and trekked 12 hours to a pay phone
A rock climber who plummeted more than 100 metres down a steep gully in the US North Cascades hiked to his car in the dark and drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities say. Anton Tselykh, a 38-year-old man, was the sole survivor of the fall between two jagged rock formations, which killed three of his companions on Saturday. Officials said the group of four had been scaling the popular Early Winters Spires in Washington's North Cascade Range, but decided to turn back when they saw a storm approaching. It's believed an anchor they were using, called a piton, became dislodged and all climbers fell at the same time, connected to each other by ropes. They plunged about 200 feet (60 metres) into a slanted gulch and then tumbled another 200 feet before coming to rest, Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell said. Despite suffering internal bleeding and head trauma, Mr Tselykh managed to extricate himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other equipment and trek more than 12 hours to reach a pay phone. Authorities have so far been unable to interview Mr Tselykh, who remains in a Seattle hospital about 257 kilometres south-west of the range, where he is being treated for internal bleeding and a traumatic brain injury. Mr Yarnell told Climbing magazine that the route Mr Tselykh took to call for help suggested he was unfamiliar with the area, because it would have been much faster for him to drive east to a community about 25 kilometres from the trail head. "He took the long route," Yarnell reportedly said. "He spent at least an hour or more driving over the Cascade mountain range." A three-person search and rescue team reached the site of the fall on Sunday, local time, using coordinates from a device the climbers had been carrying. Responders pored over the recovered equipment on Monday to decipher what caused the fall. According to the Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez, the piton that failed appeared to have been placed by past climbers. The dislodged piton was still clipped into the climbers' ropes. He said when rappelling, all four men would not have been hanging from the same piton at once but taking turns moving down the mountain. Pitons are often left in walls and can remain in place for years but may become less secure over time. "It looked old and weathered, and the rest of their equipment looked newer, so we are making the assumption that it was an old piton," Christina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff's search and rescue team, said. "We eventually, if possible, would like to get more information from [the] surviving party." She added such falls were extremely rare. The three men who died were identified on Tuesday as Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, Oleksander Martynenko, 36. A helicopter was used to remove their bodies one at a time because of the rough terrain. AP
