Nellis crew helps rescue injured rock climber

By Jeff Pope

Monday, May 18, 2009 | 6:12 p.m.

Airmen from Nellis Air Force Base helped rescue an injured man who fell while rock climbing in Zion National Park in Utah on May 9.

A seven-member crew aboard a HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter flew the injured 27-year-old man from a climbing route in Pine Creek Canyon to a waiting ambulance, which took him to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, Utah.

The man had fallen about 20 feet and landed on his neck and back, according to the National Park Service. The man, whose name was not released, suffered three broken vertebrae and a lacerated spleen, according to the National Park Service. The hospital could not release any information about him or his condition.

He landed on a rocky ledge that was too close to the canyon wall for an airlift.

“We used technical rope systems to lower him down the 30 feet to the bottom of the cliff and then to get him up over a rocky ridge to an open spot,” Park Ranger Ray O’Neil said. “We could’ve got him to he road from there but the next quarter mile was across a deep gully and probably would have needed another series of rope systems.”

Time and the severity of his injuries led the rescuers to call in the helicopter.

Nellis received the initial call at noon and remained on standby for several hours as rescue crews at the scene determined how best to move the injured man. The Nellis crew received the green light about 3 p.m.

Because of strong winds in the canyon, the pilots determined it was impossible to land the aircraft, and the 1,000-foot walls of the box canyon made maneuvering difficult, said co-pilot Lt. Christopher Hearne of the 66th Rescue Squadron.

The helicopter lowered three Air Force pararescuemen about 50 feet to the ground. They readied the man for transport and the crew hoisted him into the helicopter on a litter.

“They did great,” Hearne said of the rescue crew.

The injured man was transported by ambulance from the park, where the helicopter landed, to the hospital because the hospital does not have a helipad.

The climber had placed an anchor at the top of the “Feast of Snakes” climbing route directly below the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and was being lowered on a rope by his partner when the rigging failed and he fell.

About 25 National Park Service employees assisted with the rescue, O’Neil said. The rest of the Nellis crew consisted of Capt. Chris Richardson, Sr. Airman Phillip Schwoob and Tech. Sgt. Dan Cruz of the 66th Rescue Squadron and pararescuemen Tech. Sgt. Robert Roberts, Sr. Airman Michael Lindsay and Sr. Airman August O’Niell of the 58th Rescue Squadron .

Last year, the 66th performed several civilian rescues, including a similar rescue in the same canyon in July, Hearne said.

“The feeling of getting to participate in something like that is fantastic,” Hearne said. “It’s an amazing feeling to know you helped somebody and they’re still alive because of what you’ve done.”