A Washington rock climber survived a devastating fall that claimed the lives of his three companions, authorities reported. Anton Tselykh, 38, recounted the harrowing experience from his Seattle hospital bed, confirming investigators' suspicions about the cause of the tragedy.
The group was rappelling down the Early Winters Spires in the North Cascade Range when a crucial anchor, known as a piton, failed.
One climber was actively rappelling off the metal spike, driven into the rock face, when it gave way. The other three climbers, including Tselykh, were tethered to the same anchor, awaiting their descent. The piton's failure sent all four plummeting an estimated 400 feet.
Tselykh lay unconscious for hours following the fall. Upon regaining consciousness in the darkness, he managed to hike out and drive to a pay phone to call for help. This account, relayed by Tselykh to Snohomish County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue coordinator Cristina Woodworth, corroborates the investigators' initial assessment of the accident.
Tselykh lost consciousness after the fall for several hours before awaking in the dark in a tangle of ropes and gear. Woodsworth said he had internal bleeding and head trauma.
It took Tselykh eight hours to disentangle himself, work his way down the rough terrain of rock and snow — with help from a pick-like ice tool — to his car, drive to a nearby town and call for help, Woodworth said.
The four climbers were friends, some of whom had climbed together before and appeared fairly experienced, Woodworth said, adding that Tselykh was “obviously very much affected by this.”
The climbers who were killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48; Tim Nguyen, 63; and Oleksander Martynenko, 36, the Okanogan County coroner said.
Olga Martynenko, Martynenko’s wife, said Tuesday in a Facebook post that her husband, whom she referred to as Alex, also left behind their son. She shared a link to a fundraiser to help “during the most devastating time of our lives.”
“I still cannot believe that you are gone, my love,” she said.
