Four men who were climbing in Washington’s North Cascades mountains fell roughly 400 feet, a drop that killed three of them.

A rock climber who fell hundreds of feet descending a steep gully in Washington’s North Cascades mountains survived the fall that killed his three companions, hiked to his car in the dark and then drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said Tuesday.

The surviving climber, Anton Tselykh, 38, extricated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other equipment after the fall Saturday evening. Despite suffering internal bleeding and head trauma, Tselykh eventually, over at least a dozen hours, made the trek to the pay phone, Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell said.

The climbers who were killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, Oleksander Martynenko, 36, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said.

  • Llewellyn@lemm.ee
    0·
    1 month ago

    I have zero compassion for people, who voluntarily put themselves at mortal risk as a hobby.

    • tamman2000@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      I was a search and rescue mountaineer/EMT for a decade. I’m an engineer/analyst for my day job. I am good at math and interpreting data, interested in the mountains, and fascinated by risk/perceptions of risk.

      The most dangerous part of most mountain trips is the drive to the trailhead. Driving is so much more dangerous than just about anything else in our society, but everyone does it all the time so most people never think about it.

      Your attitude is only warranted for really high risk level activities, like wing suit base jumps. Rock climbing and mountaineering are generally quite safe compared to risks that most of Western society fully embraces.

      • michaelmrose@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        1 month ago

        Are you counting the drive as more dangerous because many people do it and thus more die of it or are you actually arguing it is more dangerous per hour to be on the road than on a rock face?

        I have serious doubts about the second when deaths per billion vehicle miles are easily 2.5ish given safe newer model.

        • tamman2000@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          I ran the numbers per hour on mountaineering (related to rock climbing, but not exactly the same) and driving is more dangerous as of about 6 years ago (when I ran the numbers).

          I believe the fatality rates on rock climbing are similar, but don’t quote me on it.

          The bottom line truth is, mountain recreation isn’t nearly as dangerous as people think it is.