Climber Seriously Injured In Fall On Royal Arches Route

On the evening of Tuesday, November 20th, Valley District rangers received a report of an injured climber on the second pitch of the Royal Arches climbing route. The climber, Meghan Seifert, had taken an estimated 50- to 80-foot fall while rappelling. Seifert was off the standard descent rappel route and was trying to reach an anchor that was just below her and out of the reach of her rappel rope when she fell. She was aware that she was near the very end of the rope and was attempting to clip into an off route rappel anchor when the accident occurred. Seifert came to rest on a boulder-strewn ledge 200 foot above the ground. She was critically injured in the fall, sustaining a C2-C3 fracture and a pneumothorax. The fall was evidently partially arrested by her rappel rope being pulled through the system as she fell. Members of her climbing party descended to report the accident. Seifert was packaged in a vacuum body splint and lowered 200 feet to the ground, where she was received by a carryout team. She was flown out to a trauma center in Modesto later that evening.

Here is the news on Meghan Seifert, from Supertopo, a climber's forum.


http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=494023&msg=494023#msg494023

Mike