3 climbers die, 1 survive after 400-feet fall North Cascades mountains

International

THREE climbers died and one survived after falling roughly 400 feet while descending a steep gully in Washington state’s North Cascades mountains over the weekend, authorities confirmed.

A report by CNN stated that the lone survivor, 38-year-old Anton Tselykh of Seattle, managed to extricate himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets, and other gear following the fall.

Despite suffering from internal bleeding and head trauma, Tselykh hiked through the night to his car and drove to a payphone to call for help — a journey that took about a dozen hours in total, according to Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell.

“He didn’t realize he had as significant of internal injuries as he did,” Yarnell told The Seattle Times.

The group had been climbing Early Winters Spires — jagged, steep peaks popular with climbers — when they reportedly decided to turn back due to an approaching storm. Authorities believe the climbers fell when a piton, a small metal spike used as an anchor, pulled loose during their rappel.

“They plummeted for about 200 feet into a slanted gulch and then tumbled another 200 feet,” Yarnell told the Associated Press.

Authorities believe the group had been ascending but turned around when they saw a storm approaching.

Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez identified the deceased as Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, and Tim Nguyen, 63, both of Renton, and Oleksander Martynenko, 36, of Bellevue.(Missy Garcia, CTU-TC Intern)