Climber with Broken Leg
May 28, 2023
Northwest of Long Valley
2023-019
Written by: Richard Yocum
On Sunday, 5/28/2023, at about 2:15 pm Richard Yocum and Donny Goetz were hoist inserted by Riverside County Sheriff’s Aviation’s Rescue 9 helicopter on the upper portion of Skyline Trail to search for a rescuer’s backpack that had been left behind during a mission in mid-March. That rescuer suffered major trauma in a fall of nearly 500 feet down a snow-filled couloir at about 8,000’ elevation.
This season’s very heavy snow had finally melted enough for a second search and after scrambling up a couple very loose dirt and rocky couloirs and a bit of rope work, they located the backpack and other items that were scattered about.
Almost immediately after their hoist extraction at about 5 pm there was a call for help by a climber who was bouldering in an area northwest of Long Valley. We immediately diverted our return flight to assist and were able to locate the person in need of help. A Rescue 9 medic was inserted by hoist, placed the patient in a hot seat, and he was brought on board where his ankle was splinted.
![](http://rmru.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-029-Donny.jpg)
![](http://rmru.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-019-Subject.jpg)
We were all dropped off at the Keenwild Helicopter base where the patient was transferred to an ambulance.
RMRU Members Involved: (Donny Goetz and Richard Yocum)
Other Units Involved: (Riverside County Sheriff’s (SERT, Aviation Rescue 9)