Three climbers fell 400 feet into death. A climber survived and drove to a coin phone

A rock climber who fell an estimated 400 feet when he gave a steep swallowing in Washington's North Cascades Mountains, survived the fall, which killed his three companions, hiked to his car and then drove to a coin phone to call help, the authorities said on Tuesday.

The surviving climber, which was not publicly identified after the accident, defeated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other devices and did the hike, although he suffered from internal bleeding and head trauma, said the lower sheriff of Okanogan, Dave Yarnell,.

It is extremely rare, which leads to three deaths, and many details about what has led to this are not yet known, said Cristina Woodworth, who heads the sheriff's search and rescue team. Two climbers were seven years ago Killed in a fall on El Capitan in the Yosemite National Park.

The group of four – including the victims at the age of 36, 47 and 63 – scaled the early winter towns, zigs of a column divided by a column that is popular with climbers in the North Cascade Range, about 160 miles northeast of Seattle. The surviving climber was hospitalized in Seattle.

The group of four met with a catastrophe that night when the anchor secured her ropes when she dropped down in a steep gorge and tried to reach the base of the Spires, Yarnell said.

They fell into a sloping gulch for about 200 feet and then fell another 200 feet before they came to rest, he said. The authorities believe that the group had risen, but turned around when they saw how a storm approached.

A three-member search and rescue team reached the place of autumn Sunday, said Woodworth. The team used coordinates from a device that had worn the climbers that had been shared by a friend of the men.

As soon as you found the place, they called a helicopter to remove the bodies one after the other because of the rough terrain, said Woodworth.

On Monday, the responders poured over the restored devices to decipher what caused the fall, said Woodworth. They found a piton – basically a small metal tip, which is driven in rock tears or ice cream and used as anchor by climbers – that was still cut into the climbing cords.

Pitons are often left in walls. You can be there for years or even decades and become less safe over time.

“It looked old and weathered and the rest of her equipment looked new, so we assume that it was an old piton,” said Woodworth.

Fels climbers secure anchors such as pitons or other climbing devices by ropes. The ropes should arrest their falls if they should slip, and usually use climbers backup anchors, said Joshua Cole, a leader and co-owner of North Cascades Mountain Guides, who has been climbing in the area for about 20 years.

In general, it would be unusual to split a single piton, said Cole and added that it is still unknown what exactly happened on the wall that night.

“At some point, if possible, we would like to receive more information from the survivor party,” said Woodworth.

The beers are a popular climbing place. The route that the climbers took, said Cole, was of moderate difficulties and requires a move between ice, snow and rocks.

But the conditions, for example the amount of ice versus rocks, can change quickly with the weather, he even said week to week or day and day and change the risks of the route.

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Bedayn reported from Denver.