Speaking from a Seattle hospital, Anton Tselykh, 38, confirmed investigators’ theory that an anchor, called a piton, that he and his companions were using Saturday evening to rappel down the Early Winters Spires in the North Cascade Range had ripped out of the rock.
Tselykh was in satisfactory condition Wednesday morning at Harborview Medical Center, meaning he was not in the intensive care unit, Susan Gregg, media relations director for UW Medicine, said in an email.
One climber was rappelling off the piton — a metal spike pounded into rock cracks or ice that climbers anchor their ropes to — and the three others were tied into it and waiting to descend, said Cristina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff’s search and rescue team and spoke with Tselykh by phone.
Funny joke but on a serious note: you don’t need any money to call emergency services from any landline in North America. Including pay phones! If you ever find yourself in an emergency, a pay phone nearby is a great resource. All mobile phones within cell range can also call emergency services even without a wireless plan— it just needs to be in range of a compatible signal tower, no matter the provider.