Three rock climbers were killed last weekend as they rappelled down a mountain when their anchor failed, causing them to fall 400 feet during a descent in the North Cascades mountains, Washington state.
Authorities said in a statement Monday that the four men, from Renton and Bellevue—10 miles from the center of Seattle—had been scaling a steep gully near North Early Winters Spire off of State Route 20 near Mazama when they all fell.
When Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office personnel and Search and Rescue arrived at the scene at around 11.30 a.m. Sunday, three of the climbers — aged 36, 47, and 63 —were confirmed dead. All three of their bodies have been recovered.
Cristina Woodworth, head of the sheriff’s search and rescue team, shared that it took him “a number of hours to self-extricate.”
He reportedly sustained internal bleeding and a traumatic brain injury in the fall, reported The Seattle Times.
A fourth climber who was with the group managed to free himself after the equipment failed.
Multiple media reports say the fourth man, who managed to free himself from the entanglement, walked back to the trailhead and drove to a payphone to call for help.
He was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Okanogan County Undersheriff David Yarnell said.
“He didn’t realize he had as significant of internal injuries as he did,” Yarnell shared.
The terrifying fall is believed to have occurred either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, said Woodworth.
As it stands, authorities believe the cause of the accident was triggered because of an anchor failure while the group were rappelling, however, an investigation is still ongoing.
All four men are believed to have been tied to the same anchor point, which Yarnell said “was not preferred.”
Yarnell said the climbers noticed a storm rolling in as they were scaling the Early Winter Couloir route and descending a wedge between the north and south spires.
“All we know is that the anchor point that they were all tied off to failed,” Yarnell told The Seattle Times.
Woodworth said they all plummeted approximately 400 feet.
Their names have not yet been released.
Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team assisted local authorities with removing the three deceased members of the group from the technical mountainous terrain, Okanogan County officials said.
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