Climber rescued after being pinned under 16,000-pound boulder

The boulder fell during a minor rockslide, and a large crowd of bystanders tried to help, but the boulder could not be moved.

WPDE

@ai6yr The article briefly mentions they built a field rig to lift/shift the boulder. As someone interested in engineering, I'd be curious. The photo suggests that maybe they wrapped it in a webbing, then pulled it off of him, perhaps with a winch.

That's the kind of object where if the other end of the winch is something like one of those fire trucks, you might drag the truck along the gravel more than move the boulder, even with the parking brake set on every wheel.

@scottmiller42 @ai6yr
They've got better photos and videos at https://www.facebook.com/clackamasfire/posts/pfbid02RxUmxLowEdg2hoVNWWrKtz9Mr5XxtgecEgJuFsHkdLSZbdZgNNGxumhTP3KgZNHnl

Looks like they squeezed in one wooden wedge at a time until they could get the patient out from under it. So just winching an inch at a time, and making sure it couldn't drop back down to the starting position.

Clackamas Fire

On Sunday, May 24, 2026, at approximately 10:20am, Clackamas Fire’s Technical Rescue Team responded to a mutual aid request from Hoodland Fire to assist with the rescue of an injured climber. Squad...

@me_valentijn @scottmiller42 @ai6yr It's more than just lifting the weight without risk of it falling back down...as the weight is removed, you have to be looking out for bleeding. With crush injuries the weight is often all that's keeping the blood on the inside.

I know several of you are pros at this; I only had one day-long course in lifting heavy objects off of trapped people, focusing on tilt-up construction, not boulders. I'm open to corrections!

@W6KME @scottmiller42 @ai6yr
Yeah, they have the patient blurred, but you can see an arm and a blood pressure cuff in various images. Wouldn't be surprised if there was other equipment in the blur as well.

@me_valentijn @scottmiller42 @ai6yr

My one day was a disaster also...group of four trainees. When I was getting my turns with the dummy under the slabs, the other three were supposed to be managing the lifting and cribbing, and they weren't. So I was yelling orders at them while trying to pass the class while also trying to avoid being crushed by these morons as they repeatedly dropped the slab.

Teamwork is a lot of fun, really.

@W6KME @me_valentijn @scottmiller42 @ai6yr lift an inch crib an inch
Going up and coming down
@MsMerope @me_valentijn @scottmiller42 @ai6yr It should be easy, right? But some people simply can't understand working together.
@MsMerope @W6KME @me_valentijn @scottmiller42 LOL I am not very good at working with other people. Short term, yes. Long term, no. 🤪

@ai6yr @W6KME @me_valentijn @scottmiller42

Yes, I'm at the point right now where I am purposefully avoiding some volunteers. I even told Capt that the other day.

I'm concerned I will tell these people to "GO AWAY! You are a hindrance not a help!!"