Penticton's Search and Rescue crew finished up at 4 a.m.
Image Credit: PENSAR.
June 15, 2023 - 5:07 PM
Penticton Search and Rescue had a long night June 14, finally rescuing a fallen climber at 4 a.m. from the Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park.
According to Penticton Search and Rescue media release, the operation started at 7:30 p.m. when a call came through about an overdue climber.
A 55-year-old Okanagan Fall resident had gone climbing early in the day and had not returned. Her truck was found in the parking lot and crews were told the climber was now seven hours overdue.
At around 9:30 p.m., the climber was found hanging from their harness five metres from the top of a climb called Screeching Walls.
The climber had injured themselves during the day and remained dangling in their climbing harness since.
As a nighttime air evacuation wasn't possible, search and rescue crews carried in rope gear, and supplies to the top of the cliff face.
From there crews lowered themselves down to pull the climber to the top of the cliff where a medical team put the 55-year-old on a stretcher.
A dozen rescues then moved the injured climber in a "slow methodical descent" which took five-and-a-half hours and using ropes to move through the canyon to a waiting ambulance.
"Our rope team and GSAR members worked methodically, with purpose and completed the task in a safe manner. We got the job done, Team members were motivated and happy to have completed the rescue successfully. It’s what they train for and we put all of our assets to use in challenging terrain and it all paid off," Search and Rescue manager Ron Berlie said in the release.
The release does not mention the severity of the climber's injuries.
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