Sheriff Brian Burnett reports two separate Search and Rescue situations handled by the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office over the weekend of June 15-17. The first situation was reported to KITTCOM dispatch in Kittitas County at about 5:30pm Saturday evening. It was determined that a climber rappelling off the NE side of Ingalls Peak (in Chelan County) had struck some rocks. Andrew Campbell (23yoa) injured his left hip during the rappel and was unable to continue the descent. His climbing partner was able to call 9-1-1 on a cell phone for assistance and the incident was turned over to the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office for coordination. Due to inclement weather and low cloud cover a helicopter rescue was not an option on Saturday evening. Three Chelan County Mountain Rescue (CCMR) personnel, including a physician, drove to the Esmeralda Trailhead in Kittitas County and hiked to the injured climber’s location well above Lake Ingalls. Chelan County made a request for Snohomish County’s helicopter to respond and assist early Sunday morning.
While dealing with the initial Ingalls Peak incident at 11:55pm on Saturday evening, SAR coordinators were advised of a second situation involving a 50yoa female who had fallen while hiking down a trail from the south side of Mt Stuart and fractured her elbow. The subject, Natalya Manko of Tacoma had slipped while hiking and struck her elbow on a rock. It was reported the large group of hikers she was with had escorted Manko to Ingalls Creek and decided to set up a camp at that point, because Manko was unable to continue.
During early morning hours on Sunday, the CCMR team reached Campbell, the injured climber and stabilized him. The rescue team along with members of Campbell’s climbing party moved Campbell to a location on the SE side of Lake Ingalls large enough to accommodate a helicopter landing when the weather cleared. The Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office SAR team assisted with support at the trailhead and inserted a ground team to the area of Lake Ingalls to assist early Sunday morning.
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