A fallen hiker in the mountains of Washington found himself in dire straits: badly injured, alone, and approaching hypothermia this past Monday, July 14.
According to a press release from the U.S. Navy’s air station on Whidbey Island, the hiker, 31-year-old Ryan Polkinghorn, was climbing the Chickamin Glacier on the northern slopes of 8,440-foot Sinister Peak, a remote, rugged mountain in the North Cascades. That’s when he lost his footing and tumbled roughly 200 feet down the steep ice field.
Luckily for Polkinghorn, he didn’t lose consciousness during the fall. And when he came to a stop, Polkinghorn began screaming for help.
The yelling likely saved his life.
Hikers across the canyon heard his cries, and although they could not see or reach Polkinghorn, they sent out a distress call using their Garmin inReach. Emergency responders received this SOS at 1:38 P.M. according to a media release from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
Once they’d called for help, the other hikers navigated tricky terrain to reach Polkinghorn. “After traversing glacial and rocky terrain” they finally located the fallen climber, and saw that he “had sustained head, neck, and shoulder injuries … and was showing signs of early-stage hypothermia.”
After reporting this to the sheriff’s office, Chelan County contacted the Naval Air Station at Whidbey for a hoist-capable helicopter, which airlifted Polkinghorn off the mountain that afternoon. The injured hiker was then taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for further treatment.
The rescue highlights the importance of carrying a satellite emergency device or a phone equipped with off-grid SOS functionality when adventuring solo in the backcountry. It’s also proof that, when all else fails, a powerful scream or loud noise can save one’s life in a backcountry emergency.
In its published guide General Backcountry Safety, the Colorado-based Mountain Rescue Aspen advises readers to blow a whistle and yell “HELP,” and not to give up if you do not hear a response. “Rock walls and valleys play strange tricks with echoes and you may lose your potential rescuers by attempting to locate them,” MRA writes.
“No matter how faint his or her yell may be, stay put and keep yelling,” the group adds.
The rescue on Sinister Peak has also ignited the debate about who should foot the bill for search and rescue operations: the victim, local taxpayers, or nonprofit rescue outfits. On the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post that reported the Sinister Peak rescue, one of the top comments was, “Send him a BILL!”
Earlier this summer, another Washington sheriff’s office considered an ordinance that would charge hikers fines for rescue, if they’re found to have behaved recklessly, such as venturing off trail to take a photo on the edge of a slippery gorge. In late June, five separate distress calls on the same trail in a single week prompted the responding rescue organization, a volunteer group, to encourage hikers to use more caution when recreating outside.
