We’ve heard plenty of stories of successful search and rescue efforts, but we rarely get to witness one filmed by the person being rescued.
Climber @ari.smell was ascending an area of steep snow at the base of a climb called Rebel Yell in Washington’s North Cascades National Park when the snow under her feet collapsed. Unfortunately her ice axe didn’t catch at she was left doing an 80 foot sliding fall before she was able to self arrest.
When she came to a stop she noticed bloody snow and took her pants off to see what caused it. Her crampon had stabbed her as she was falling, leaving a >1 inch deep wound in her leg. Fortunately there were 3 first aid kits in her group so they stoped the bleeding.
“We were at nearly at 8k feet, having done a technical and steep climb/hike of ~4k to get to where we were. After I calmed down a bit, I determined it would not be possible for me to walk back to the car.” – @ari.smell
Station SAR Whidbey Island picked up the group within a few hours of them hitting SOS on the InReach and calling 911. Fortunately she should be able to heal quickly following the incident.
“It was a crazy experience, and I’m beyond grateful for the SAR resources we have in Washington. I still can’t believe a helicopter was able to reach us at our location, and I will probably stick to dry rock approaches for a while.” – @ari.smell
