Climber Injured
March 24, 2024
Suicide Rock, Idyllwild
2024-006
Written by: Andy Hayt
At approximately 1pm on Saturday afternoon RMRU received a callout for a hiker with an injured leg near Suicide Rock. Several members of the team arrived at the Idyllwild fire station at approximately 3pm and met with members of the Idyllwild Fire Dept., Riverside Sheriff’s Dept. and CalFire. At this point two members of the Idyllwild Fire Dept. had begun the hike up Deer Springs Trail to reach the subject, whose last known position near the bottom of Suicide Rock was reported by hikers who heard him screaming for help.
As the ‘climber’s trail’ leading to the base of Suicide was reported to be snow covered, we decided to approach the subject via the Deer Springs Trail. Blake, Colby, Solan, and I assembled at the Deer Springs Trailhead, assigned team positions, and did a quick evaluation of conditions. At this point temperatures were in the high-30s alternating between sleet and light rain. We were informed that the Idyllwild firefighters had reached the subject at 3:45pm and that they had marked the trail with flagging tape and provided an updated last known position. We divided up portions of the litter and made the approx. 3-mile hike to the subject in approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Upon arrival at the subject’s location at 5pm, we made contact with the firefighters who informed us that the individual had a possible ankle fracture and an 8-10 cm laceration to his right thigh, after sustaining a 40-to-60-foot fall while free climbing. Miraculously he appeared to have suffered no other major injuries and was alert and oriented. The firefighters had initiated patient care, stabilized the ankle fracture, and placed a tourniquet on the upper thigh to staunch the bleeding. We quickly assembled the litter and placed the subject into it, wrapping him up and insulating him from the elements, and anchored the system to a nearby tree due to the steepness of the terrain. Riverside Sheriff’s helicopter Rescue9 attempted to reach our position but was unsuccessful due to weather conditions.
Initially we planned to raise the subject approx. 300 ft to the trail, and Eric and Ray followed the hasty team into the field with ropes for this purpose. Ultimately, we elected to attempt a lower to the creek bed to connect with the ‘climber’s trail,’ as Deer Springs Trail presented several sketchy, high-consequence spots that would have presented excessive risk to the subject in the litter. As Eric scouted the route down the hill in the approaching darkness, we began what could generously be described as an arduous lower and carry-out through a boulder field marked by patches of ice and snow, while temperatures rapidly dipped below freezing.
Extremely steep angles, deep, soft duff, and large drop offs and logs, which necessitated the removal of the wheel on multiple occasions, were common. The litter was kept on belay using a series of large trees, wherein several team members leapfrogged one another to keep the belay constant. This movement to the creek bed, a distance of ½ mile and 900 feet of elevation drop, took the team approximately 3.5 hours, and we reached the climbers trail (snow-free, at its lower points!) by 10:30pm. There Coby and Matt joined the group and assisted with the final egress. The subject was handed off to an awaiting ambulance at 11pm.
It should be noted that conditions rapidly deteriorated on the mountain on this day. What began as high clouds with patchy sun in the morning quickly gave way to dense cloud cover, temperatures at or near freezing, and precipitation that ultimately resulted in several inches of snowfall overnight.
Editor Note: This was Andy’s first mission, great job in the field and on the write up
RMRU Members Involved: (Coby Brown, Colby Coryell, Matt Frenken, Andy Hayt, Eric Holden, Blake Rankin, Solan Watts, and Ray Weden)
Other Agencies Involved: (Idyllwild Fire Dept. And Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept.)