Indian Origin Mountain Climber Miraculously Survives 500 Feet Fall from the Highest US Summit
It was mountain climber Gurbaz Singh’s 90th mountain climb. The 16-year-old from Surrey was ascending the peak with his friends on Tuesday.
An Indian origin teen from Canada survived a 500 feet fall from the 11,240 feet Mount Hood. Mount Hood is the highest summit in the coastal US state of Oregon.
It was mountain climber Gurbaz Singh’s 90th mountain climb. The 16-year-old from Surrey was ascending the peak with his friends on Tuesday. In the process, he lost his footing in the ice and fell from a place in the mountain called ‘The Pearly Gates’ to a section in the mountain called the ‘Devil’s Kitchen Area’ according to CNN affiliate KATU channel.
He got stranded at an elevation of about 10,500 feet. Since the location was very high, the rescue operations took several hours before he was finally rescued.
“He thought he was going to stop somewhere, and he was trying to arrest the fall with his ax, but it just didn't happen because he was rolling so fast that he couldn't do it,” Gurbaz Singh's father Rishamdeep Singh told KATU.
The rescuers splint Gurbaz’s leg and they began their journey downwards which lasted for hours.
Singh was taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery. Miraculously he suffered just a broken leg. According to Gurbaz, the factors that saved his life were his helmet and the training he received. "We looked at my helmet afterwards and it was just destroyed... I'm so lucky," he told CTV News.
According to the US forest office, Mount Hood is the highest summit in Oregon and is the most visited snow-covered peak in the nation. More than 10,000 people climb this peak every year.
What’s interesting is that the son and father have decided to climb Mount Hood once again when Gurbaz Singh completely recovers. Cheers to their fearless spirit.
