Crews rescue two climbers within three days on cliffs near Index

A climber who fell from a cliff wall near the town of Index is now recovering after a dramatic helicopter rescue.

It was one of two rescues in that area last week.

Around 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon, calls came into to dispatchers that someone had fallen in an area near the Upper Town Wall.

Sky Valley Fire and a technical rescue team from Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue arrived and immediately went to work on a high-angle rescue.

Snohomish County’s rescue helicopter “SnoHawk” hoists a climbing accident victim near Index. (Photo: Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue)

Other climbers happened to be in the area, including an E-R technician and several nurses who assisted with efforts to help the climber.

Snohomish County’s SnoHawk helicopter hoisted the victim to safety and flew the climber to Providence Medical Center in Everett.

Sky Valley Fire and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue come to the aid of a fallen climber near Index. It was one of two successful rescues of injured climbers in that area last week. (Photo: Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue)

The climber told rescuers the injuries were extremely painful in the lower portion of their body.

But emergency responders expect the person to survive.

(Photo Courtesy Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue)

Two days earlier, on Thursday, a 47-year-old woman was climbing on the Index Wall Buttress, when she also fell and was badly hurt.

It took some time for crews to reach her, due to poor cell phone signals.

But once they arrived, a response team came up with a strategy to reach her, sending one technical rescue team to the top of the cliff, to lower rescuers down.

They also sent a firefighter who is an avid sport climber up from the base of the wall to the victim.

The firefighter who climbed up from the bottom reached her first and began medical care.

Shortly after, a litter basket and a rescue technician from Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue were lowered down from the top.

Once reaching the injured climber, they secured a series of ropes, then dropped her down about 20 feet to the ground, where paramedics and additional rescuers were waiting.

The woman suffered knee and head injuries and was reported to be in stable condition.

In a statement posted on X by Sky Valley Fire officials, a spokesperson wrote:

We are fortunate that our Rope Rescue team trains frequently on this exact rock face and carried out the rescue safe and efficiently. Additionally, this is a huge story of where realistic training, trust and collaboration with mutual partners paid off for successful completion of a very technical high angle rescue.”