Hidden Valley Campground Incident on 12/26

My partner and I were packing up at Hall of Horrors at ~1:30 PM when we heard sirens and witnessed a ranger vehicle speeding toward HVCG. Less than thirty minutes later, we rolled up to the Intersection Rock parking lot--crowded(!​)​--and saw the same ranger vehicle and a fire engine staged near in the northwest corner with a crew of three carrying what appeared to be first aid equipment in the direction of The Old Woman. (Before anyone asks, no, they didn't head toward Double Cross.)

I asked a good number of people what happened, but nobody knew. My partner and I are hoping it wasn't anything too serious, or that whoever needed help got cared for promptly by the responding crew. Fingers crossed! Does anyone have more info?

Didn't think it came off that way, Benjamin, but my partner and I were (and still are) genuinely concerned. We were fortunate enough to share a lot of climbing routes and good times with a bunch of other climbers in the Park over the past few days, and we are worried in case this incident involved one of those people.

Also, if further context helps to clarify, "Intersection Rock parking lot b/w 1:00-2:00 PM" was our designated meeting arrangement with another group in absence of cell service--just happened to be same place, same time.

Hopefully, it was just another wrong dose incident.

I am friends with the injured climber(I’m leaving out names) The accident occurred in the outback bouldering area on the “yabba dabba dont” Boulder. The climber was making the move to the jug and couldn’t hold the position and came off. It was a typical fall not out of control or unexpected. We had four spotters along with four pads protecting the landing. The climber came down directly in front of a spotter who supported him at the waist as to prevent him from falling backwards. Both feet landed on the same pad. At this point we heard an audible “pop” and saw that the lower portion of the climbers left tibia was sticking out through the skin. The ankle and tibia had completely separated. We immediately sent two runners to the phone in the lot. Even though we weren’t too far from the lot we did not want to risk further injury by moving him ourselves. We settled the climber on the pads and elevated/ supported the foot as best we could. Bleeding was minimal and no other injuries apparent. A climber from near by introducd him self and offered assistance as he had just finished a backcountry rescue course. Again no names but you know who you are and thank you again. He monitored pulse and took notes for the timeline of care/injury. A Ranger arrived about 40 minutes after the initial accident guided by one of the runners. She took vitals and monitored and took info for her report as well as communicated with the other Ranger and SAR. SAR arrived approximately 15-20 after and began care and stabilization of the leg. The other Ranger arrived with the litter and off-road wheel rig for transport. Climber was loaded into the litter and wheeled out to an awaiting ambulance in the hidden valley camp loop. The climber has had surgery and is now sporting a few more screws and prices of metal but is doing fine and is stable. A big thank you to the rangers, SAR and all the fellow climbers who helped out and offered assistance! We can’t thank you enough!

ouch.

Thank you for the info, Kiel, and all the best to your friend for a speedy, full recovery! Bad news about the injury; good news it wasn't more serious. Sounds like your group took all the precautions you could--sometimes these things happen anyway, unfortunately.

Big ups to the rangers, the SAR crew, and the good Samaritan climber who stepped in to help too!

Kiel, glad to hear you friend should be OK.  Just curious...how long a fall was it?

I would guess the Boulder itself is around 12 feet tall. His feet were somewhere between 5-6 feet at the time of the fall

Thx for the update! Sounds like the climber will survive. OUCH!

Sounds like a freak accident. That's not high up at all.

Reason #24 why I don't Boulder.