News

Injured climber flown to Mission after Looking Glass Rock rescue

By Lightning Reports, Published: February 3, 2019

One climber was flown to Mission hospital in Asheville and another emerged unhurt after the Transylvania County rescue workers responded to a call to Looking Glass Rock in Pisgah National Forest on Saturday night.

Transylvania County Rescue Squad reported at around10 Saturday night that the climbers had been rescued.

"All patients and rescuers are out of the woods," the Rescue Squad said in a posting on its Facebook page. "The person stuck on the side of the rock was able to lower themself to the base safely. Another patient had a 100-150 foot tumbling fall to the base and was injured. We accessed them from the Slick Rock Trail off of Forest Service Road 475B, near the Pisgah Fish Hatchery. After packaging the patient, we carried (the climber) out to the awaiting ambulance." The injured climber was transported to Transylvania Regional Hospital and then airlifted to Mission Hospital.

The rescue squad reported at around 6 p.m. that it had located a climber at the base of Looking Glass Rock, a popular destination for climbers. The emergency was reported by the Raleigh News & Observer at 7 Saturday night.

"Rescue crews have made contact at the base of the rock with the patient that fell. We are still working to locate the patient on the side of the rock," the rescue squad reported at around 7 p.m. on its Facebook page.Earlier, rescuers reported that they were responding to the site. "We have crews on scene going to the top of the rock and crews going in to the base as well," its post said. "We have requested Connestee Fire Rescue to bring their drone out to help us locate the exact location of the person stuck on the side of the rock."

Transylvania County Emergency Management personnel and the Henderson County Rescue Squad assisted in the rescue operation and the Connestee Fire Rescue provided a drone.