California solo hiker slips, breaks leg after trying to cross High Sierra snowfield without proper gear

A solo hiker was rescued from California’s High Sierras earlier this month after he slipped and broke his leg in a fall while trying to cross a snowfield without proper gear, officials said.

The hiker had attempted to ascend Shepherd Pass on Sept. 8 but found the trail covered by a snowfield leftover from last winter, Inyo County Search and Rescue said in a statement on Wednesday.

When he tried to cross the snow without crampons or an ice ax, he slipped and tumbled down the trail, losing about half of his gear before hitting a rock wall, which stopped the fall but also broke his leg, according to officials.

The solo hiker was able to call rescuers, who said his location was about 11,800 feet up in the High Sierras and 11 miles up a steep and “only somewhat maintained trail.”

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Rescuers assembled and were inserted into Shepherd Pass via helicopter, meeting with two rangers from Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks just before midnight.

The crew determined it was too dangerous to cross the snowfield, even with crampons or an ice ax, and decided to downclimb a steep chute from the pass to avoid the snow and climb to the patient from the bottom of the slope.

Rescuers reached the injured hiker around 1 a.m., finding him mildly hypothermic. The team warmed up the hiker and stabilized his injury while bracing for a “sleepless night” as they were forced to wait out a thunderstorm, sleet, rain, snow and gusty winds, officials said.

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Once morning broke, the patient was put into a lightweight stretcher and lowered away from a rock wall so a helicopter could pick him up and transport him to a hospital in Lone Pine. No update on the hiker’s condition was immediately available.

Rescues, however, had to descend about 1,000 feet into Shepherd Canyon, where they were picked up by a shuttled to Lone Pine. All rescuers were cleared from the field by 2 p.m.

Inyo SAR warned hikers not to cross snowfields without proper foot traction and an ice ax in hand.

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“Our patient is lucky he survived to tell the story!” the search and rescue team said.