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Grand Canyon resident rescued after fall
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Even those of us that live in the park can have a fall. A 33-year old male from the canyon fell yesterday on a recreational climb on Newton Butte which is located around a mile and a half north of Shoshone Point. Due to the lateness of the day when the Park Service was notified of the fall, the gentleman spent what had to be a long night in the canyon until he was short hauled out this morning. His injuries were non-life threatening and a ranger/paramedic spent the night with him stabilizing him and making him comfortable. His climbing partner was commended by the park for his assistance to his friend. He made the injured man comfortable, left him as many supplies as he could, hiked out for help, and then guided the ranger paramedic back to the man in the dark along a treacherous route.
To see video clips of this rescue operation click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.
Grand Canyon, Ariz. – A resident of Grand Canyon National Park was rescued via short-haul this morning after suffering a fall during a recreational climb of Newton Butte.
On Monday, July 6, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Grand Canyon National Park rangers received notification that a man had been injured in a fall at Newton Butte located approximately 1.5 miles north of Shoshone Point. Due to quickly diminishing light conditions and the treacherous nature of the route to the patient’s location, a decision was made to send in a ranger/paramedic to stabilize the patient and make him as comfortable as possible until a full-scale rescue could be launched in the morning.
Upon arriving at the scene, the ranger/paramedic found a 33-year old male who had fallen approximately 50 feet and sustained non-life-threatening injuries to both legs.
This morning at approximately 7:00 a.m., supplies were flown in by the park’s helicopter so that the ranger/paramedic could prepare the patient for transport. The patient and ranger were then flown to the canyon rim together using a short-haul technique (both the ranger and the patient were attached to a fixed line extended below the helicopter.) From there, the injured man was transported via park ambulance to meet a Guardian Medical Transport ambulance for final transport to Flagstaff Medical Center.
The National Park Service would like to commend the efforts of the injured man’s climbing partner who made his friend as comfortable as possible, supplying him with as much gear as he could spare before hiking out to get assistance. He then led the ranger/paramedic back to the man’s location in the dark along a treacherous route.
Park helitack and trail crew members as well as park ranger staff participated in this rescue operation.
-NPS News Release -
View to the Northeast from Shoshone Point - photo: Linda Updike 2009
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