High Sierra Topix

Wow glad it turned out ok(ish)! Heal fast, see you on the trail.

Quite a harrowing tale, glad you're still around to tell it.

Get well soon.

Cheers!

--F.G. Dave

I am glad you are on the road to recovery and I hope you aren't hit with a huge bill for the helicopter. I know someone who go hit with a $35K air rescue bill. There is a company that offers insurance for $50 a year that might be of interest to others.

http://www.airmethods.com/omniadvantage#.UgT-Qr-9Kc3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cori,

Bill Fincher just told us about your accident. I hope you heal quickly and well and I'm glad to see that you are out of the hospital. Good luck with your surgeries and I hope you heal up for ski season!

Barry

Hi Barry,

Welcome to HST! Thanks for becoming a member so you can give Cori your well wishes
very considerate of you!

So glad things weren't worse. Any ideas why the boulder moved? Were you just in the wrong place and the EXACT wrong time?

Cori
Just got the word about your climbing accident. It's always horrible to hear about our mountain friends getting busted-up in the wild, but it was good to hear that SAR and Mammoth ER were there for you. And after you and Scott have returned to Santa Barbara, your SB trail friends are ready to help in any way…please let us know…maybe your raccoon buds will come visit you too!
Don

Thanks again! Barry and Don, glad to see you here. Surgery to fix clavicle (plate and pins) is scheduled for Wednesday (8/14), then Scott will drive me home Sunday. We'll leave his jeep here in Mammoth, and take the FJ home since the jeep is lifted. I can't drive since the shifting arm (clavicle) and clutch leg are both injured. I'm still in a sling, and walking (uncomfortable and slow) without the crutch. Typing with 1 finger since I can't lift my R arm.

The boulder was at the mouth of a chute. The other 2 women were climbing a CL3 wall, and one said she couldn't see if it went. I checked the little chute, put my hand on the boulder blocking the chute to look around and saw that it went up a ways. I took my hand off the boulder, walked around it and looked back to wait for the others. I saw something move on my right side, and saw the boulder tipping towards me and tried to get out of the way, but it was too late. I put my arm up and it got my R elbow, rolled over my pack and flipped me over and landed on my L butt cheek. It could have been a lot worse.

That is certainly a scary story. It's good to hear that you are the mend. I was curious about the peak. I somehow get the impression that this is not the Virginia Peak in northern Yosemite (btw Spiller and Return Creeks and SE of Matterhorn), but that is the only Virginia Peak I know of. One of the routes on that peak features a loose chute with a class 3 section at its top (this is snow filled early season and very prominent from the south). Is this the same Virginia Peak you were hurt on, or was it a different Virginia Peak?

This was Virginia Pk in Northern Yosemite. We started at Green Creek. It was that loose chute.