PINE CREEK CANYON, May 8, 2020 – On May 7 around 1:30pm, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office received notification of a fall victim with critical injuries in Pine Creek Canyon. The victim, one of a party of two from Bishop, CA, was near the top of a climbing route in Scheelite Canyon/Pratt’s Crack Gulley, roughly 500 feet above the canyon floor.
Inyo County Search and Rescue responded, and after confirming the injured party’s location, a team of two ascended a multi-pitch climbing route to reach the injured party from below. Four additional members ascended 5th-class terrain on the southeast side of the same buttress, where they were able to top out and descend to the injured party with additional rescue equipment. The injured climber was stabilized and lowered in several stages to the base of the canyon. An ambulance from Symons Emergency Specialties provided care at the scene.
As a reminder, Inyo SAR and the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office have released an official request for the recreating public to not participate in high-risk outdoor activities. If you get sick, lost or injured and require SAR assistance, the responding team of volunteers will have to break social distancing and the State mandated Stay at Home Order by sharing rescue equipment, radios, and vehicles. You will be potentially taking those rescuers out of service for weeks due to post mission self-monitoring protocols.
