Four men who were climbing in Washington’s North Cascades mountains fell roughly 400 feet, a drop that killed three of them.

A rock climber who fell hundreds of feet descending a steep gully in Washington’s North Cascades mountains survived the fall that killed his three companions, hiked to his car in the dark and then drove to a pay phone to call for help, authorities said Tuesday.

The surviving climber, Anton Tselykh, 38, extricated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets and other equipment after the fall Saturday evening. Despite suffering internal bleeding and head trauma, Tselykh eventually, over at least a dozen hours, made the trek to the pay phone, Okanogan County Undersheriff Dave Yarnell said.

The climbers who were killed were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, Tim Nguyen, 63, Oleksander Martynenko, 36, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said.

    • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
      231·
      2 days ago

      I mean, even the ones in airports weren’t working last I tried.

      My understanding is that phone companies in the US mostly just let them fail — they left them working as long as they were still functioning, but didn’t maintain them.

      Maybe this was some special case, if it was out of cell service and a popular place or something.

      If not, that guy has ludicrously good luck. He walked away from a hundreds-of-feet fall, and then when his life probably depended on it, managed to find a payphone and the payphone was functional.

      EDIT:

      https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2022/12/30/bringing-back-payphones/?amp

      Payphones aren’t entirely gone, and this Google Map site supposedly shows the remaining payphones. If this site is right, there are still 307 working payphones in the country. Here in North Carolina, the only remaining payphone shown is at the Greensboro airport.

      EDIT2: I bet that that’s not actually complete, though.

      https://www.uslegacies.com/posts/the-decline-of-pay-phones-in-every-state

      This has data from 2016, which is apparently the last time the US government actually tracked them. At that point, the state with the greatest decline from 2000 was Mississippi, with 188 functional phones remaining.

      The one with the least decline was Hawaii, with 3,615 remaining.

      EDIT3: The guy fell in Washington state, which as of 2016, had 1,730 remaining.

      • Psythik@lemm.ee
        4·
        20 hours ago

        Every pay phone in Disney World is still working, yet not a single one is listed on that map.

        • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
          20·
          2 days ago

          The most recent models of cell phones can now send texts and SOS by satellite. I assume the SOS is like 911 and doesn’t need the special subscription.

          But if you’re doing high-risk activities in a remote area, you should really have a spotter, a Garmin inreach, or both.

          • Drusas@fedia.io
            6·
            2 days ago

            I know. But it’s a big question here in Washington whether or not we want to add cell towers on / near Mount Rainier because they do not have service.

            Most people don’t keep up with the most recent model.