Accident Account, 08/18, 4:22 pm

Following is an email Amber Jean sent out to friends on Monday August, 18th 4:22 pm
(edited slightly for this post)

Liz Ann was injured in a hiking accident yesterday (Sunday, August 17) while descending Mt Cowen in the Absaroka/Beartooth Range. She had summited Mt Cowen around 1:30 PM with Jo Jo (Joe Josephson) and Leslie Bahn (friend from Jackson/Bozeman) via the classic Northeast Ridge route. After a euphoric summit celebration, the party navigated the ledges and were hiking down the steep decent gully.

Jo Jo was first, Leslie 2nd, and Liz Ann 3rd….they were near the end of the gully. Liz Ann dislodged a large (TV-size) rock which hit her in the chest and smashed her against another rock, after which she plummeted head-first into another rock and continued to free-fall. Jo Jo was directly below her and was able to leap into her path in a successful attempt to position himself under Liz Ann and protect her head. They tumbled together and came to a stop. Jo Jo’s injuries were superficial (broken nose). Liz Ann sustained head, chest and back injuries. She never lost consciousness and was both cognizant and alert during the whole situation. The accident happened approximately at 2:30 P.M at about 10,600 feet.

Leslie went for help while Jo Jo stayed with Liz Ann. Leslie managed to quickly negotiate several thousand feet of difficult terrain around snowfields, rock slabs and waterfalls to reach Elbow Lake at 8,500 feet. There she left a note for two friends, Dustin Gaines and Pete, with whom they shared a camp at Elbow Lake. Leslie then ran eight miles out to the Trailhead. Leslie was able to phone 911 at 6:22 PM when she emerged from Mill Creek canyon into cell phone range. Leslie contacted me as well, and I was able to contact Pat Callis of the Gallatin County Search and Rescue mountaineering unit. A full rescue was quickly launched which involved 3 agencies.

Dr. Alan Orem, an experienced mountain rescue medic and ER doc, was air-lifted and left below the accident scene just as it was getting dark. He was able to join Liz Ann and JoJo after an hour of climbing. Liz Ann was in stable condition, but it was dark, and so the helicopter efforts were postponed until daylight. JoJo and Alan dug out a platform and moved LizAnn into a sleeping bag that Alan had brought so she'd have a more comfortable place to spend the night. A SAR team of seven were sent in by foot last night to camp at Elbow Lake and assist in the a.m. Meanwhile, Dustin and Pete discovered Leslie's note upon returning to camp at 8:30 after 16 hours of climbing a different route near Elbow Lake. They immediately headed back up the mountain with four sleeping bags and a stove and climbed several hours up to the gully where Liz Ann, JoJo and Alan were. Dustin and Pete's effort was critical as they were able to make hot water bottles to help keep Liz Ann warm in the sleeping bag. Dustin and Pete also happen to be master trail builders and got busy early in the morning to build a shelf to give the helicopter medic an insertion point as close as possible to Liz Ann. Shortly before the helicopter arrived, they all "packaged" Liz Ann into the vacuum splint Alan lugged in. This becomes completely rigid acting as a backboard and was critical since due to the weight and elevation, the helicopter would have had a difficult time reaching them with a separate backboard and litter.

Once the helicopter and medic arrived from Yellowstone National Park, all five of them worked together to put Liz Ann onto a "Scoop" (a collapsible board) and a "Bowman Bag" (a large canvas bag with straps and harness that attaches to the short line underneath the helicopter). This all took about 8 minutes after which Liz Ann and the medic, Blake Chartier, were short-hauled to the staging area (Mill Creek and East River Road intersection). The air ambulance was waiting for her to take her to Billings and left about 10:30 this morning. Liz Ann’s brother John was there to see her. Leslie and I talked with Liz Ann as well. She was very much alive, alert, and together.

Liz Ann’s head wounds are superficial…and one chipped tooth (they’ve already stapled her up). The neurosurgeon has confirmed pretty significant compression fractures on T-5 and T-6. Liz Ann has not had feeling or movement from her waist down since the accident occurred yesterday. They will be operating tonight or tomorrow. The good news is that the CT scan is good…no brain hemorrhage. There is no thoracic or abdominal hemorrhage. We do not want to jump to conclusions about the rest of her prognosis.

She is a super fit, amazingly strong woman who has an impressive large network of friends. John is dealing with the family and Liz Ann’s direct care. Her sister Jane was in California and will be arriving in Billings this evening. Her other sister will arrive tomorrow. Glenn (her fiancé) is on his way to Billings and will arrive this evening. Questions, concerns, and well-wishes can be directed to me (222-9251 or 223-6669) or Mary Lee (587-4925). Please do not call the hospital or John. Bobbi Jo will be in charge of an e-mail network for friends. We will do our best to keep everyone updated. Right now, the family would rather have us field calls and have asked that we do not travel to Billings until further notice (she may even be moved elsewhere…we will keep you posted).

Both Leslie and Jo Jo are experienced climbers with training in wilderness first response and rescue. Liz Ann was very lucky to be with the two of them as well as the two climber friends who happened to be in the area at the time of the accident. The night was warm and calm, the rescue efforts well-coordinated, and other factors entered in for which we can be grateful. (the rescue is the largest scale, most difficult terrain experienced in this county (and Gallatin). Mt Cowen is remote, high elevation, and rugged. The rescue took about 19 hours which is actually pretty good considering the extreme terrain and remoteness. Time was not a factor in Liz Ann’s injuries.

We all know Liz Ann is spirited and strong. She needs our positive energy. E-mails will be printed and given to her in intervals…hopefully we will all be seeing her soon as I know you all love her and want to help see her through this.

We believe e-mail will be an efficient way to keep everyone in the loop but do not hesitate to call.
Amber Jean