Church group member fell from top of rock
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August 6, 1991 |
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By Rick Phenicie
Dinner was just winding down, kids were happy, I was just about ready to catch the evening news; BZZzzz!… the pager sounded; rescue at suicide rock, a 17 year old boy had fallen from the top! I loaded my gear and headed for the mountain.
When I arrived at base camp, there must have been 10 or 15 RMRU members already there. I was told that a church group out for a day hike had hiked to the top of Suicide Rock and the boy had gotten too close to the edge and slipped off.
Team 1 was already out in the field searching the base of the rock. Other members were packing ropes and equipment needed for the rescue when the news came over the radio, the boy had been found, it didn’t look good. Team 1 requested help with a body recovery.
With disappointment, we packed the rescue gear back into the van and unloaded what was needed to assist Team 1.
The Trail to the base of Suicide Rock is steep and rugged, but with the help of tem member Warren (I can climb anything in the dark) Egbert, we met up with Team 1 in no time.
After Taking care of the job at hand, it was determined that the terrain was such that a carry-out was out of the question and we would wait until light for a helicopter. The recovery was completed and everyone headed home.