Icicle Buttress Accident??

[telemarker]

Anyone know what happened? Three ambulances, bunch of Chelan Co. rescue workers. Looked to be at the base of R & D Route.

[Blake]

wasn't there any accident on R&D (mounties group) last year when someone took a lead fall in that chimney-ish section?

[ZONK]

From what I hear a little shoulder injury, But thats 2nd hand from a ambulance dude who heard it toned out, I hear also the hospital had a walk in with a broken leg of some sort. With well over one hundred cars parked along the road on Sunday its bound to happen! Falling numbers ?

[Jens]

A guy broke his thigh bone. My partner and I were next to him climbing cocaine crack. We got him down. It was nice having 3 ropes (including a 70m). Thanks to all those that assisted from the trail to the car.

[NYC007]

what time did this occur?

[Gary_Yngve]

Just to make sure everyone is aware, there was an accident on Saturday and an accident on Sunday, both on Icicle Buttress.

[brook_alongi]

Did this individual break their femur? If so, how did you treat the injury?

 

Given the close proximity to the road, I hope you waited for a litter and splinting supplies from EMS and the Chelan Mountain Rescue Team. It takes a lot of force to break a femur, which means there was also a chance the subject could of had a spinal injury as well. A broken femur is definitely a life threatening injury.

 

Just curious?

[rbwen]

Don't know which day this was but it looks like they took their time with the rescue.

 

(from kohoradio.com)

 

Rock climber rescued in Icicle Canyon

 

The Chelan County Mountain Rescue team and the Sheriffs Office High Angle Rescue Rope Team came to the aid of a rock climber yesterday. Ron Lavigne of Olympia had fallen from a rock face about 5 miles up Icicle Road, and was unconscious on a ledge about 100 feet above the ground. The rescue teams set up a 5-to-1 line system enabling them to safely lower Lavigne in a litter to an awaiting ambulance. He’s now in serious condition at Central Washington Hospital.

[mike_m]

This was the Sunday accident, just not very accurate. A 5:1 lowering system?

 

The leg injury was Saturday.

[catbirdseat]

I think they rigged up some sort of trolley system to support the litter as they brought it down the steep trail. There were ropes running all the way up from the road.

[Weekend_Climberz]

I just learned of someone who was injured this past weekend and I know he was heading to Leavenworth. Haven't talk to him yet, but I'm wondering if he was one of these.

[tanstaafl]

Rescues take for freakin' ever unless the rescuers happen to be on scene when the accident happens, and even then....

 

Brook, the guy Saturday took a fall onto his hip, was moving around, completely coherent, said the pain was localized in his lower outside hip. His feeling was that he might have had a small femur fracture, but we're not talking about a full-on break.

 

We did stabilize his leg as much as possible with a foam pad out of the pack his belayer was carrying before rapping ensued. He rapped under his own power.

 

Don't know what the outcome was exactly though, since he and his partner drove off in their car to the medical clinic.

[Stephen_Ramsey]

I was the guy with the femur fracture on Saturday at Icicle Buttress. It was a bit worse of a fracture than I guessed in the field, turned out to be a comminuted fracture of the proximal femur (about 2 cm distal to the femoral neck).

 

I would like to say thanks to everyone who helped with transport from the base of the route to the car.

Also, thanks to the Leavenworth clinic and Wenatchee LifeLine for arranging speedy transport to Harborview.

 

Kellie and Jens did an amazing job rigging and supervising the rappels, and retrieving all the gear. My heartfelt thanks to both of them.

[ivan]

wow - a bunch of board types getting fawked up of late - are we all sinners in the hands of an angry god?

 

get well stephen

[tanstaafl]

wow, I gotta say cc.com is the last place in the world I would have expected anyone to quote Jonathan Edwards. nice.

 

Stephen, just glad we could help.

[DirtyHarry]

Good work Kellie and Jens !

[ivan]

wow, I gotta say cc.com is the last place in the world I would have expected anyone to quote Jonathan Edwards. nice.

 

Stephen, just glad we could help.

to the contrary, i've found "literate misanthrope" typifies the common cc'er

 

so what's the projected heal time for an injury of this sort?

[olyclimber]

Its gotta be a long time to heal a femur. I broke mine when I was 5 or so and was in a big cast for like 6 months or something, and that age should be when bones heal faster I would think. Of course, it depends on the break though.

[miller]

Great job to the folks involved, and glad to hear that everyone is still kickin'. Scary stuff.

 

Does anyone have any information about the accident(s) themselves? What happened?

[Weekend_Climberz]

So that makes four accidents that happened over the weekend. One in Index and three in Leavenworth. The two in 11worth talked about on this board have not mentioned one other that I know of. I haven't talk to him yet, but that makes for a bad weekend. I hope everyone stays safe this weekend and good luck to those who are recovering from injuries. Glad to hear everyone made it back in one piece.

[AJScott]

Its gotta be a long time to heal a femur. I broke mine when I was 5 or so and was in a big cast for like 6 months or something, and that age should be when bones heal faster I would think. Of course, it depends on the break though.

 

I broke mine 3 years ago, and you would be suprised at how quick they heal. I was out of the hospital in two days with nothing but a pair of crutches sans cast. Just a bunch of staples, and a hugh rod running down the inside of my femur and a couple pins to hold er steady. I still have the rod, its kind of annoying. I was back to climbing in about three months with a solo climb of Mt. Stone in the Olympics

[olyclimber]

ya, i think my break was made worse by my brother riding me the 1/2 mile back to the house on the handlebars of his bike.

[dalius]

Internal fixation seems to be the way to go in terms of speedy recovery. No cast = less atrophy = less rehab.