BASE jumper plunges down cliff, Montana rescuers say. Witness rushes to call for help
A BASE jumper was injured when they fell along a cliff face and landed on a steep, rocky incline in Montana, rescuers said.
They fell after deploying their parachute in the Gallatin Canyon on Oct. 19, Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue said in an Oct. 20 post on Facebook.
Bystanders “recognized the emergency” and promptly left the canyon in search of cell phone service to call 911 at about 6:45 p.m., officials said in the post.
The call initially came in as a “hang-gliding accident” near the Rockhaven Camp and Retreat Center, about 18 miles southwest of Bozeman, but rescuers later discovered it was a BASE jumping accident and the BASE jumper had possibly injured their neck in the fall, officials said.
Photos show the rocky cliff where the BASE jumper landed. Specialized rescuers trained in valley rescues “with an alpine endorsement” used “low angle technical rope rescue techniques” to lower the BASE jumper to waiting ground crews, officials said.
Once rescuers had the BASE jumper off the cliff, they took them to a staging area on a “one wheeled litter,” and the injured jumper was flown to Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center, officials said.
Sheriff Dan Springer thanked the bystander who called 911.
“This event happened in an area without cell service and without someone promptly leaving to call 911, the initiation of a rescue could have been significantly delayed,” officials said.
This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 5:36 PM with the headline "BASE jumper plunges down cliff, Montana rescuers say. Witness rushes to call for help."
