The sole survivor of a rock climbing accident that killed three others in Washington state's North Cascades National Park is in satisfactory condition—a fact that's nothing short of "miraculous," an official says. Okanogan County Undersheriff David Yarnell tells NBC News that Anton Tselykh, 38, and his climbing companions decided to head back down the mountain around 5:30pm Sunday to avoid incoming bad weather. Tselykh was closest to the ground when the piton, or metal anchor, that the group was using to hold their main line failed, pulling free and sending the men plunging, the AP reports. The fact that he didn't fall quite as far, coupled with the deep snow where he landed, perhaps contributed to his survival.
He and the three men who were killed—Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, and Oleksander Martynenko, 36—plunged as much as 200 feet before skidding 200 more and coming to rest entangled in climbing gear. Yarnell says Tselykh was unconscious initially and awoke hours later, walking to his car around 10pm to try and find help. Likely disoriented from his head injury, he collided with a guardrail at one point and lost consciousness again, but once again eventually woke up and continued driving to get help, Yarnell says, noting that the disorientation is likely the reason Tselykh didn't attempt to use GPS communication devices to alert emergency services. He eventually found a pay phone the next morning. (More North Cascades National Park stories.)
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