By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
- Las Vegas Metropolitan Police search and rescue crews conducted a seven-hour rescue of an injured climber at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Clark County, Nevada.
- The climber fell approximately 40 to 50 feet while ascending the “Dream Safari” route on the Dark Shadows Wall in Pine Creek.
- The fall left the climber stranded roughly 600 feet above the canyon floor with severe head and back injuries.
- Rescuers rappelled down the rock face after being inserted by helicopter, stabilized the patient and lowered them in stages to the ground.
- The climber was transported to a local hospital; officials said a helmet destroyed during the fall likely helped save the person’s life.
CLARK COUNTY, Nev. — A climber injured during a fall in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area was rescued after a seven-hour technical operation conducted by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Search and Rescue (SAR) team.
Authorities said SAR crews were notified around noon on Feb. 28 of an injured climber on the “Dream Safari” route on the Dark Shadows Wall in the Pine Creek area. The climber had fallen an estimated 40 to 50 feet and sustained severe head and back injuries while ascending the multi-pitch route.
The climber came to rest at the top of the route’s first pitch, approximately 600 feet above the canyon floor. A climbing partner and a guide from another group reached the victim and controlled bleeding while awaiting the arrival of rescue personnel.
Las Vegas police deployed four SAR officers and a lead climbing volunteer via the department’s AIR3 helicopter, inserting them several hundred feet above the injured climber. From there, rescuers rappelled down the rock face to reach the patient and began providing medical treatment while suspended on the wall.
Rescue crews secured the climber in a titanium litter and constructed a multi-stage rope lowering system. The patient was lowered several hundred feet down the wall through three separate lowering stations before reaching the ground.
After reaching the base of the canyon, additional rescuers carried the litter to an extraction point. The climber was airlifted to a Bureau of Land Management helipad and transferred to a waiting ambulance for transport to a local hospital. Police said the climber’s helmet was destroyed in the fall but likely prevented more severe injuries.