SAR responds to injured rock climber

Custer County Search and Rescue (SAR) and Custer Ambulance Service was dispatched July 30 at 2:04 p.m. for a report of an injured rock climber who had fallen 30 feet from a spire along the Needles Highway, just up the road from the Cathedral Spires Trailhead parking area. SAR officials say the climber’s rope probably saved him from a longer fall but the report stated he had landed on some rocks, making it likely a serious situation.
Some SAR members who are climbers were not far away and responded while others brought vehicles and equipment from town. The patient was located behind a rocky incline above the highway. Paramedics treated him at the scene and put him in a basket litter for a short but steep carryout to the nearby ambulance.
The ambulance had been paged a short time earlier for a different call, a reported head injury near Sylvan Lake campground, so it was already en route but then diverted to the fallen rock climber due to the severity of this second call. Hill City Ambulance Service was then paged for mutual aid on the first call. The injured person refused ambulance transport after being checked out by medics, but other information was not available.
Meanwhile Black Hills Life Flight had been requested from Rapid City and landed at the junction of Hwys. 87 and 89 near the Sylvan Lake entrance station. The ambulance transported the injured rock climber up the Needles Highway to the helicopter, which took him to Rapid City. The patient was speaking with medical personnel during the rescue.
Among the entities who responded to the call were Custer State Park (CSP) conservation officers, other CSP employees and the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.

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