Mountaineer Trapped By Boulder Amputated Arm With Knife

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Mountaineer trapped by boulder amputated arm with pocketknife

Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles

Saturday May 3, 2003

The Guardian

A young mountaineer amputated his own arm after being trapped under a boulder in Utah for five days. Yesterday he was in intensive care in hospital after hikers found him walking in a nearby canyon.

Aron Ralston, 27, a photographer and mountaineer from Aspen, Colorado, was riding his mountain bike in Canyonlands national park when he left the path to explore a canyon. A boulder, estimated to weigh up to 450kg, fell on him and trapped his arm.

Unable to move and without water for two days, Mr Ralston believed that he would not survive unless he freed himself. Using his pocketknife, he severed his right arm and attached a tourniquet from his first-aid kit. He then used his ropes to descend into the canyon. He was found there by two hikers who called for help.

Mr Ralston was taken to hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he was being treated in intensive care.

"He's obviously one tough guy," Sergeant Mitch Vetere of Emery County sheriff's office told the Denver Post. A rescue team which had been searching for two days had been un able to find him. "He was in pretty rough shape but he communicated with us all the way to the hospital."

A team returned to the scene to try to retrieve the severed arm but were unable to move the boulder.

Mr Ralston is no stranger to danger. In February, he survived an avalanche. He has climbed 49 of Colorado's mountains over 14,000 feet. He has also acted as a mountain guide in the area.

"Life is empty and meaningless," says his website. "It is in emptiness that we create the possibility for extraordinary results."