2 climbers badly injured in accident at Suicide Rock in Idyllwild
One climber was knocked unconscious and stranded on a ledge. The other fell nearly 100 feet. Fellow climbers assisted firefighters in the rescue, which was hampered by pelting hail and rain.
Two Orange County rock climbers are recovering after an astonishing accident in which one fell as much as 100 feet and the other was knocked unconscious when she smashed her face into the cliffside at Suicide Rock in Idyllwild.
The pair were rescued in dramatic fashion Saturday by fellow climbers and firefighters, who fought off grape-sized hail and heavy rain from a flash storm.
Trevor Mathews, 21, of Irvine, suffered significant head trauma and remains in intensive care. His friend and climbing partner, Claire McKay, 22, of Costa Mesa, was treated and released but will undergo facial reconstruction surgery later this week to treat a fractured cheek bone, authorities said. She also suffered a broken arm and severe bruising, some caused by being pelted with hail as she lay unconscious on a ledge.
Mathews was about 40 feet above McKay when he slipped on the face of the rock while trying to set a wedging device for his rope, said Michael McKay, Claire McKay's father, in an interview today. A second device securing the rope to the rock pulled loose and Mathews fell. McKay was on the same rope and was slammed into the rock face and knocked unconscious when Mathews fell.
"Accidents, when they happen, everything goes bad," Michael McKay said. McKay said his daughter and Mathews were both experienced hikers who train at an indoor facility. Mathews' family could not immediately be reached.
Mathews wound up at the base of the cliff. Fellow climbers saw the accident and called for help. They had secured Mathews in a stretcher and were carrying him out to the road when Idyllwild and Riverside County firefighters arrived. He was taken by helicopter to Riverside County Regional Medical Center.
Rescue workers planned to use a helicopter to lift McKay off the cliffside but had to abort the mission when the storm blew in, Idyllwild Fire Department Capt. Alan Lott said.
"We were notified by the pilot of the helicopter that he could no longer see the nose of his ship," he said.
Firefighters called up to McKay and began to try to rescue her but were forced to take refuge from the storm. Two climbers, identified by authorities as Richard Magner of Desert Hot Springs and Phil Sanchez of Cathedral City, scaled the cliff to rescue McKay. Once they reached her, they secured her and rappelling down the mountain with her. She was also taken by helicopter to the hospital.
"The weather was so bad you couldn't even look up to see if they were repelling with her, because of the ice coming down and the rocks and debris coming down," said Capt. Tim Bingham of the Riverside County Fire Department. "It was amazing."
christian.berthelsen@latimes.com
