California Climber Survives 8 Hours on 6-Inch Ledge Before Rescue at 10,600 Feet

Q: When helicopters failed, how did volunteer rescuers execute a daring night operation to save a stranded climber from a six-inch ledge?

When wind made a helicopter hoist too dangerous, Mono County’s volunteer search-and-rescue team mounted a technical ground rescue in the dark. The climber, stranded about 10,600 feet up on a six-inch ledge with roughly 2,000 to 2,400 feet of exposure below, had sent an SOS from a Garmin inReach device. Rescuers used a six-wheel off-road vehicle to get as high as possible, while some team members were ferried in separate helicopter trips to a high saddle on Laurel Mountain to shorten the approach. From there, they climbed to the summit ridge and then descended into the Mendenhall Couloir at dusk, moving through loose, complex terrain with headlamps and rope gear. Once they made visual and voice contact, they judged the climber could not safely remain there overnight. In the dark, the team drilled anchor bolts into the rock, rigged a rope system above him and sent a rescuer laterally across the steep face to reach him. The rescuer clipped the man into a safety line using his harness, securing him from a fatal fall. By about 10 p.m., the climber had been stabilized. Rescuers then lowered him with the rope system to a safer ledge and added a second fixed line so he and the team could climb back up to the top of Laurel Mountain. The group hiked out and reached waiting vehicles, ending the rescue early Sunday morning after about nine hours of exposure for the climber and an overnight operation for the volunteers.

Q: Why do experts risk tackling the deadly Mendenhall Couloir without ropes, and what happens when they lose the unmarked trail?

Experienced climbers often tackle Mendenhall Couloir without ropes because, on the correct line, it is regarded as a classic alpine route where skilled climbers can usually move unroped. Ropes can be unnecessary on the established path, and the terrain is often climbed as a fast, light ascent by people comfortable with steep exposure and route-finding. The danger is that Mendenhall is hard to read. It has loose rock, no route markers, and only subtle clues, such as bands of red rock, to indicate the proper line. Search-and-rescue officials say that once a climber drifts off the route, the terrain quickly changes from difficult scrambling to steep, exposed fifth-class rock that is hard or impossible to protect with gear. That is what happened in this rescue. The climber followed what he thought was the route, took a few wrong steps into the wrong gully, and ended up stranded on a six-inch ledge with roughly 2,000 to 2,400 feet of exposure below him. At that point, going up or down became equally dangerous, and any slip would likely have been fatal. Experts’ willingness to go without ropes, then, depends on staying exactly on route. Once they lose that unmarked line, the climb can turn from manageable to life-threatening within minutes, often requiring a technical rescue because helicopters may be unable to fly in the wind and heat common on the mountain.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 27

Eight hours after becoming stranded, a climber was rescued from a six-inch ledge on Laurel Mountain in California’s Sierra Nevada at about 10,600 feet.
The man and a friend were ascending Mendenhall Couloir without ropes when he stepped off an established red-rock route and got stuck on the narrow perch.
High winds ruled out a helicopter extraction, forcing Mono County search-and-rescue crews to carry out the operation from the mountain.
Rescuers and local guides said the couloir’s route can be difficult to follow, and a few wrong moves on the steep face can quickly become life-threatening.