At 5:41 pm on Wednesday, August 28, the Team received a report of a 29-year-old male climber who had taken a lead fall on the Red Dihedral of the Incredible Hulk. The lead fall occurred around 10 am and resulted in a fractured ankle. The climber and his partner were able to self-rescue from the wall, and then the subject began working his way out through the talus and large blocks toward the use trail with assistance from his climbing partner.

A pair of climbers descending overtook the subject, and stopped to render assistance. They were able to construct a carrier from a climbing rope, and carried the injured climber on their backs. Eventually they tired, and called for assistance.

The Team responded to Mono Village, and two field teams hiked in with a wheeled litter. The group was encountered less than a mile from the trailhead, and the subject was splinted and packaged into the litter. The litter was rolled out to the trailhead, and the subject was transported via personal vehicle to Mammoth Hospital for treatment. The field teams arrived at the trailhead at approximately 8:45 pm.

Assembling the 2-piece litter in preparation for wheel attachment. Image by J. Bush

Preparing to load our subject into the wheeled litter for transport. Image by J. Bush

Transporting our subject toward the trailhead. The image is blurry due to the speed of the litter team on the trail. Image by B. Beck

IC: Hansen. Ops Leaders: Beck/Torrence. Responders: Buchanan, Bush, Creager, Evans, Godshalk, Hartstrom, Hodges, Kaufman, Patterson, Pavlovsky, Quiring, Senior