Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit team, Les Walker (right) and Donny Goetz (center), prepare to lower injured hiker down Tahquitz Rock. Photo by Chad Marler
CalFire helicopter 301 attempts to lower a rescuer down to help hoist the patient out, but when winds picked up, they were forced to retreat. The injured climber had to be hiked out by ground crews. Photo by Jenny Kirchner
Approximately 50 personnel responded to reports of an injured climber on “Angel’s Fright” on Tahquitz Rock on Sunday, Sept. 23.
A man in his mid 50s climbing with his two sons at the iconic climbing destination fell about 15 to 20 feet and caught his foot on a rock edge in the fall. He sustained either a sprain or a break according to Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit volunteers on the scene.
Shifting winds made it impossible for a responding helicopter to lower a medic to the injured climber. As a result, the RMRU team consisting of Les Walker and Donny Goetz conducted a technical rescue of the injured man that required placing him in a litter and belaying him to a point where first responders could conduct medical evaluation and transport if needed.
The rescue concluded around 6 p.m. according to Walker when his team handed the subject over to waiting fire personnel. According to the CAL FIRE information sheet, the man refused medical treatment at the scene.
Agencies called out at about 12:30 p.m. included CAL FIRE, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Idyllwild Fire Protection District, Mercy Air Ambulance and the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit.
Personnel from CAL FIRE and Idyllwild Fire all pull out the binoculars to try to locate an injured climber on Angels Fright trail on Sunday afternoon. The climber, a male in his 50s, sustained moderate injuries to his lower extremities according to a Riverside County Fire press release. Photo by Jenny Kirchner
Emergency personnel from Idyllwild Fire, USFS and CalFire try to locate an injured climber on Sunday afternoon near Angels Fright trail. Photo by Jenny Kirchner
Riverside County Fire has a pow wow to make a plan of action to help rescue an injured climber on Sunday afternoon. Photo by Jenny Kirchner
Bautista hand crews hiked in to help in the rescues efforts. Photo by Jenny Kirchner
The USFS Tahquitz crew were briefed on the situation before hiking in. Photo by Jenny Kirchner
Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit sets up a base to handle radio communications with the volunteers on the trail. Photo by Jenny Kirchner
Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit volunteers prepare to hike in to help rescue an injured hiker on Sunday afternoon at Humber Park. Photo by Jenny Kirchner
A Jeep stolen in Idyllwild was recovered in Aguanga earlier this month with the help of social media and some watchful neighbors. Brian Brown reported his 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee stolen from his Lower Pine Crest apartment on Sunday, Feb. 8, around 2 p.m., to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Brown thinks the Jeep was…
Cal Fire rescued two people over the weekend, one on Saturday, Aug. 8, on Suicide Rock and another on Black Mountain Truck Trail on Sunday, Aug. 9. Around 6:48 p.m. Saturday, Cal Fire responded to reports of an injured rock climber on Suicide Rock. Cal Fire and American Medical Response arrived at the scene, but…
We received quite a bit of new fallen snow last night. But thanks to Cal Trans and Riverside county Roads, the roads have been plowed, travel around the Hill is fine …
James Bachmann is 12. He is a budding ventriloquist with an already strong technique and a great sense of humor. He is soft spoken and respectful when he speaks. When he begins to talk about his passion for ventriloquism, his eyes sparkle and his hands become animated. James also is battling brain cancer and has…
Board of Supervisors unanimously approved funding proposals from both the Regional Parks and Open Space District (RPOSD) and the county’s Transportation and Land Management Agency (TLMA). The request from both agencies included projects on the Hill during the next fiscal year (July 2023 through June 2024). Parks RPOSD requested approval to use $11.8 million the…
A two-vehicle crash at 10:34 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, on Highway 74 at Thomas Mountain Village resulted in one fatality and three injuries, two of them moderate to serious. According to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Darren Meyer, Walter Risch, 73, of Mountain Center, was driving a white 2004 Ford 150 truck westbound on…
