Mountaineer survives 120-meter fall; his three companions die

UNITED STATES (AP) — A Washington climber who survived a fall of more than 100 meters (feet) that killed his three companions remained unconscious for hours before waking up in the dark, walking outside and driving to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said he told them Wednesday.

From a hospital in Seattle, Anton Tselykh, 38, confirmed investigators' theory that an anchor he and his companions were using to rappel down the Early Winters Spires in the North Cascades mountain range broke free from the rock, causing the four men to fall 400 feet (122 meters).

“Everyone was gathered at that piton anchor point, and one person was rappelling, when that piton broke loose and pulled them all down,” said Cristina Woodworth, who leads the sheriff’s search and rescue team and spoke to Tselykh by phone.

After the fall, Tselykh lost consciousness for several hours before waking up in the dark, tangled in ropes and equipment. Woodworth said he suffered internal bleeding and head trauma.

It took Tselykh eight hours to untangle himself, pick his way through the rugged terrain of rock and snow with the help of a pickaxe-like ice tool to reach his car, drive to a nearby town and call for help, Woodworth said.

The four climbers were friends, some of whom had climbed together before and seemed quite experienced, Woodworth said, adding that Tselykh was “obviously very upset by this.”

The climbers who died were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, and Oleksander Martynenko, 36, the Okanogan County coroner said.

Olga Martynenko, Martynenko's wife, said in a Facebook post Tuesday that her husband, whom she referred to as Alex, also left behind their son. She shared a link to a fundraiser to help "during the most devastating time of our lives."

“I still can’t believe you’re gone, my love,” he said.