Latest news with #OkanoganCountySearchandRescue
Toronto Sun
15-05-2025
- General
- Toronto Sun
Sole survivor of 400-foot rock climbing fall told 911 he could 'hardly breathe'
Published May 15, 2025 • 1 minute read The Okanogan County Search and Rescue team responds to a climbing accident in the North Cascades mountains in Washington on Sunday, May 11, 2025. Photo by Okanogan County Sheriff's Office / AP 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. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account 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. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 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. Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs World Columnists Editorial Cartoons
Toronto Sun
14-05-2025
- Toronto Sun
Three climbers fell 400 feet to their death. One climber survived and drove to a pay phone
Published May 13, 2025 • 3 minute read The Okanogan County Search and Rescue team responds to a climbing accident in the North Cascades mountains in Washington on Sunday, May 11, 2025. Photo by Okanogan County Sheriff's Office via AP / AP A rock climber who fell an estimated 400 feet while 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. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The surviving climber, who has not been publicly identified, extricated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other equipment after the accident and made the trek despite suffering internal bleeding and head trauma, Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell said. Falls like this leading to three deaths are extremely rare, and many details about what led up to it still aren't known, said Cristina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff's search and rescue team. Seven years ago, two climbers were killed in a fall on El Capitan at Yosemite National Park. The group of four — including the victims, aged 36, 47 and 63 — were scaling the Early Winters Spires, jagged peaks split by a cleft that's popular with climbers in the North Cascade Range, about 160 miles northeast of Seattle. The surviving climber was hospitalized in Seattle. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The group of four met with disaster that night when the anchor securing their ropes appears to have failed as they were descending in a steep gully, trying to reach the spire's base, Yarnell said. They plummeted for about 200 feet into a slanted gulch and then tumbled another 200 feet before coming to rest, he said. Authorities believe the group had been ascending but turned around when they saw a storm approaching. A three-person search and rescue team reached the site of the fall Sunday, Woodworth said. 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. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. On Monday, responders poured over the recovered equipment trying to decipher what caused the fall, Woodworth said. They found a piton — basically 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. 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, said Joshua Cole, a guide and co-owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides, who has been climbing in the area for about 20 years. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 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. — Bedayn reported from Denver. Toronto Maple Leafs Columnists NHL World Sports
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Fatal fall in Washington's North Cascades kills 3, leaves 1 survivor
Three climbers from Renton, Washington died over the weekend after falling during a climb in North Cascades National Park. Personnel from the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office and Okanogan County Search and Rescue volunteers responded to reports of a climbing accident near North Early Winters Spire, nearly 16 miles west of Mazama, Washington, at about 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. The responders learned that a party of four climbers from Renton, which is a suburb of Seattle, were involved in a fall while descending a steep gully, the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office said. When crews arrived at the accident site, they found three of the climbers dead. Missing Climber In Glacier National Park Found Dead After Suffering Apparent Fall According to the Okanogan County Coroner's Office, the three people who died were ages 36, 47 and 63. Read On The Fox News App The fourth climber, though, self-extricated and was able to contact law enforcement about the incident. 21-Year-old Rock Climber Falls, Dies At Storied 'Close Encounters' Filming Location: National Park Service The Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team assisted with the extrication of the three dead climbers from the mountainous terrain. A preliminary investigation has determined that the accident happened after an anchor failed while the climbers were rappelling down the steep terrain, though the investigation is still ongoing. Mount Everest Remains Believed To Be Climber Who Vanished 100 Years Ago The National Park Service did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the matter. The sheriff's office thanked the search and rescue volunteers and Snohomish County helicopter crews for helping with the "tragic incident." "Our thoughts are with the family members and friends of those involved," the sheriff's office article source: Fatal fall in Washington's North Cascades kills 3, leaves 1 survivor
