BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) \u2014 David Cifaldi and his two hiking companions were crossing Montana\u2019s ominous Froze-to-Death Plateau and approaching the top of the state\u2019s highest peak when their adventure took a bizarre and dangerous turn: Cifaldi slipped and impaled himself on his trekking pole as he fell.<\/p>\n
The 44-inch (112-cenimter) steel-tipped pole passed through the flesh beneath Cifaldi\u2019s left arm, missing any vital organs, and protruded from his back. After conferring with his friends \u2014 and considering the high cost of a helicopter rescue \u2014 Cifaldi knew who would save him: himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018We\u2019ve got to get off this mountain.\u2019 And they\u2019re both like, \u2018I don\u2019t know about that,\u2019\u201d Cifaldi said of his friends\u2019 initial reaction. \u201cI\u2019m pretty confident this is outside my chest wall. \u2019Tis but a flesh wound.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old nurse, who works in wound care at a Billings, Montana, hospital, did a self-assessment. He was alert. There was little pain or blood. And the pole wasn\u2019t moving. The group used a satellite-based communication device, a Garmin inReach, to contact local authorities and inform them of their plan to self-rescue.<\/p>\n
Then they started hiking out. They carefully descended from the plateau along an unmarked route, navigating through boulders and snowfields before bushwacking their way to an established trail.<\/p>\n
After more than six hours in which they traveled about 10 miles (16 kilometers) and descended roughly 5,000 feet (1,500 meters), the group reached a trailhead where one of them, Cifaldi\u2019s friend Jesse Ross, had parked a vehicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only reason it was possible at all was his confidence,\u201d Ross recalled. \u201cWho are we to say anything? He\u2019s the medical person. Our job is just to support at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cifaldi had long wanted to climb Granite Peak. At 12,800 feet (3,900 meters), Montana\u2019s tallest mountain is prone to unpredictable weather including dangerous lightning storms and bitter cold. Hundreds of people annually try to reach the rocky summit; many come up short. In 2019, authorities said a 65-year-old Minnesota man who was an experienced climber fell about 150 feet (45 meters) to his death after reaching nearly the top of Granite Peak with his son.<\/p>\n
As Cifaldi and his companions started hiking out, the pole awkwardly sticking out of his side, Stillwater County Search and Rescue team commander Ty Williams monitored the group\u2019s progress via a dispatcher who took calls from the group.<\/p>\n
The first call came in at 9:44 a.m. on July 20, right after Cifaldi impaled himself. At 1:30 p.m. the trio said they were getting closer to the trailhead and to let the nearest hospital know they were coming, Williams said.<\/p>\n