Search and rescue crews in Las Vegas continue to have a busy start to 2025.
On Wednesday, February 6, members of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s search and rescue squad saved a woman who had fallen from a climbing area in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
According to a , the woman, who was not named, had fallen while climbing near the White Rock Hills hiking and climbing area. She landed in a boulder field and was unable to hike out.
“The victim fell while climbing and was unable to move due to a back injury,” read a statement from the department.
White Rock Hills is located in a remote corner of the park, approximately 6 miles past the park entrance, down a dirt road. The area is ringed by a four-mile trail that takes climbers to several different climbing routes.
Rangers from the Bureau of Land Management hiked in to the area and made contact with the victim, but they were unable to bring her to safety on foot. Officials decided to send an emergency helicopter to the area. According to the release, three search and rescue officials flew in on the helicopter and helped the ground crews move her to a suitable extraction point.
Dramatic photos showed the helicopter removing the injured climber. According to the release, she was taken to a ground ambulance.
The rescue was the third major lifesaving mission in Red Rock Canyon this year involving rock climbers. On Saturday, January 18, crews responded to near the Pine Creek area of the park.
One rescue involved four climbers who became stranded on the “Cat in the Hat” climbing route after their ropes became entwined. The four were preparing to rappel the route when the incident happened, and they retreated to a ledge. One of the climbers, Joe De Luca, was able to call rescuers from his cell phone.
As De Luca was waiting for rescue crews to reach his party, he witnessed the other incident 100 or so yards away. A climber named Micah Manalese, 30, fell from a route and hit the rocks approximately 130 feet below.
“It was evident to me that the chance of life was zero, or at least very low, if we didn’t do something quickly,” De Luca told Climbing.
De Luca called rescuers after the fall occurred, but they were unable to save Manalese.
Her partner, Robert Hiett, ڴǰԲ.
“With her training, she somehow still managed to squeeze in time with her family and friends. She could do it all,” Hiett wrote.
Red Rock Canyon is one of the most popular outdoor destinations in the Southwestern U.S., and climbers and hikers flock to the destination in the winter and early spring, before temperatures begin to soar in late April. The canyon’s famed Navajo Sandstone formations are traversed by several dozen climbing routes.