Looks like a terrible end.

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/...52/page/1#Post685452

What's even worse is that it's incredibly easy to top rope this climb, there is a short climb-up behind the block and an easy 5.6 on the left side that provides easy acces to the top. But I don't know all the details of the accident, perhaps there were mitigating circumstances, but just wanted to put that out there.

On Sunday May 13th and about 1:30 p.m. Chaya fell 25-30 feet and landed on her head. She was climbing and camping in Smith Rock State Park outside of Redmond, OR She was not wearing a helmet.

We first want everyone to know how much we appreciate the outpouring of love from our friends and family. There are so many people pulling for Chaya that it is truly amazing.

Chaya was lead climbing with her friend Carin, who she was road tripping with to Oregon, where she was initially working this summer. She was notified by Outward Bound that enrolment was not as high as they had planned for so she was not needed in OR, but they had a spot for her in Montana if she still wanted the job. She did. Chaya and Carin decided to take a day to climb at Smith Rock State Park.

Chaya had already done at least one other lead climb before starting up the route from which she fell. She placed three pieces of protection before she arrived at a spot that made her nervous. Carin took the slack out of the rope and Chaya called 'falling' and fell. She fell and all her pieces of protection zippered out of the rock face. She hit the rock once with her full body, and then reached the ground. She landed face down with her head tilted to the side. The initial point of impact was the left side of her head.

Chaya was breathing on her own after the fall. Carin, a WFR (wilderness first responder) immediately stabilized her head and neck. EMS was called. An ER doctor and a nurse from Portland were climbing across the river and saw her fall, so there was a doctor on the scene almost immediately. An EMS ground crew arrived within 20 minutes. They called in the helicopter. The ground crew stabilized Chaya's neck and head and checked her body for furthur injury. She had two skinned knees, three broken ribs and a collapsed lung. She did not regain consciousness.

Chaya was airlifted from the scene to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, OR; a level II trauma center. She arrived there just over an hour after she fell. She was intubated. At the ER she was admitted and had a chest tube put in. Her left lung was reinflated. She was put under heavy sedation, in order to minimize the amount (if any) of brain damage.

After she was stabilized enough, she was transefered to the CCU (Critical Care Unit, a.k.a. ICU), where the hospital staff attempted to continue to stabilize her.

Jesse arrived at the hospital at about 3:30 a.m. on May 14th. I (Aliya) arrived the same day at 9:30 a.m. and Mom and Dad got in at about noon.

We met with her neurosergeon, who had placed and ICP (inter-cranial pressure) monitor into her head, in order to better assess her brain functions. He informed us that he suspects a Diffuse Axonal Injury (But Jesse and Steve are highly suspect of this diagnosis). The level of brain damage, he said, could be anywhere on a wide spectrum. All we have to do is wait and see.

Chaya is still in the critical care unit.