billcoe Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) Link to Oregon Live story Anyone know anything? Sounds like another fall on the descent to the top of Silver Bullet. It says: "Climber hospitalized after falling 35 feet on Rocky Butte by Lynne Terry, The Oregonian Tuesday February 03, 2009, 7:06 PM A rock climber in his 30s was hospitalized today after falling about 35 feet in Rocky Butte Park in Northeast Portland. Portland Fire & Rescue arrived at the scene at about 4 p.m., minutes after a 9-1-1 call. But then it took the specialty crew 30 minutes to find the victim in the rocky, steep terrain threaded with unmarked trails, said spokesman Lt. Allen Oswalt. The climber, who was conscious and did not have life-threatening injuries, was strapped securely to a backboard, Oswalt said. The crew of firefighters, all professional rock climbers and paramedics, put the backboard in a steel basket and attached that to a pulley system, getting him safely down the steep slope to the trail. The man told firefighters that he had started at the top of a 50 foot cliff on the northeast face of the butte. He said he had descended about 15 feet when something went wrong and he fell about 35 feet. He was taken to Legacy Emanual Hospital & Health Center. Oswalt said Portland Fire & Rescue rescues eight to 10 climbers a year on Rocky Butte. "It happens to the best climbers occasionally," he said. But it could have been worse "if he would have had serious injuries with it taking us a half an hour to find him." Climbers should always have a partner, use good equipment and know what to do and where they are in the event of an emergency. -- Lynne Terry; lynneterry@news.oregonian.com" I see the Jerk posted this just before I did, the story he linked from KATU has pictures too. Link Edited February 4, 2009 by billcoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexbaker Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) The whole crew of firefighters were professional rock climbers? Whoa! edit: Just realized I fell there once and dangled off the lip cliging to moss for a moment. Scariest moment of my life. Edited February 4, 2009 by alexbaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 The whole crew of firefighters were professional rock climbers? Whoa! edit: Just realized I fell there once and dangled off the lip cliging to moss for a moment. Scariest moment of my life. The first line comes off all cocky, then reality sinks in! Holy crap! clinging to moss, shit! What route or area were you at Alex? Silver Bullet? What happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemp22 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 i had the same thought initially - all our firefighters are professional rock climbers? who knew? It doesn't look like any of them are wearing prana or patagucci in the photo... I also liked the last line saying that climbers should know where they are in case of emergency. But, at least it sounds like the climber isn't too seriously injured. Hope they make a full recovery & get back to climbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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