Date of Event: 3/30/2019
Canyon involved: Falling Leaf
Region: San Gabriel Mountains
Country: United States
Submitted by: Liz Aziz
Source: Self-report
Injury: Pelvic fracture
Cause: Rockfall
Description of Event: We were a group of three and needed to take an alternative exit from the canyon. The road to the beta drop in and exit were closed until April 1. It was a long, steep exit and we were taking as much care as possible to either stay close or stagger to avoid rock falls.
Around 7:40 and only 45 feet from the road, a large boulder around 2’ in diameter came crashing down the gully.
I tried to dive out of the way and the rock struck me with full force on my right side. The pain was excruciating and got steadily worse to the point where I couldn’t move an inch, even with the help of my teammates.
I activated my InReach, but I wasn’t sure if the message was going through. I kept receiving a message to move to an area with more open sky which I obviously couldn’t do. As a team, we were staying in one spot out of fear that more rocks would tumble down. At one point, a hiker came by and he later got cell service and called 911.
The rescue was very difficult due to the terrain. Three men were able to rappel down with a basket and hoist me up to the road. From there, I was airlifted to the hospital where a CT Scan revealed I had a broken pelvis.
Analysis: It’s always dangerous to be in canyons and gullies, especially after a rain storm and Southern California had experienced several weeks of heavy rains. I’m not sure what else we could have done differently at that moment. We were sure not to move around the steep gully in the dark to avoid any additional rocks. We had studied the exit carefully, but you can’t see the extent of the brush and loose rocks from a topo map.