Think you are hard core? Try this!

[Cycleon]

Climber Who Cut Off His Arm Had No Choice

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The climber who amputated his own arm to free himself from beneath a boulder had no other choice if he wanted to survive, one of his rescuers said Friday.

Aron Ralston, 27, of Aspen would have died had he stayed where he was, in remote Blue John Canyon near Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah, Emery County sheriff's Sgt. Mitch Vetere told NBC's "Today" show.

Ralston, described by authorities as an avid outdoorsman in exceptional physical condition, remained in serious condition Friday at a hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.

Vetere said two other rescuers who returned to the canyon in hopes of retrieving the limb discovered that the boulder weighed 1,000 pounds, not the 200 that they first believed. They were unable to retrieve the arm.


Now
"If he wouldn't have gotten himself out of that mess," Vetere said, "they wouldn't have seen him from the air."

Ralston was hiking Saturday when he became pinned by the boulder. He ran out of water on Tuesday and on Thursday morning, he decided that his survival required drastic action.

Using a pocketknife, Ralston cut off his right arm below the elbow and applied a tourniquet and administered first aid. He then rigged anchors, fixed a rope and rappelled 60 feet to the canyon floor.

Ralston's expeditions have been known to trigger awe, said Brion After, manager of the Ute Mountaineering store in Aspen where Ralston works. After said Ralston has climbed 49 of Colorado's 14,000-foot-plus mountains.

"To be honest, sometimes we get pretty scared with some of the things he's doing," After said.

Ralston was found about 3 p.m. Thursday with two other hikers, said Vetere, who did not elaborate on who the other people were or why Ralston was with them. The search had begun in the morning after authorities were notified of his disappearance.

Vetere said Ralston described to them what he had done and that he was "obviously tired." His only request was water.

The rescuers tried to keep Ralston awake for the 12-minute flight to the hospital in Moab, Utah, by talking to him. He walked into the emergency room on his own. He was flown later to the Grand Junction hospital.

"I've never seen anybody who has the will to live and is as much of a warrior as Aron is, and I've been doing this for 25 years, said park ranger Steve Swanke, who was with Ralston in the emergency room. "He is a warrior period."

Now that is tough

[Full Intensity]

Holy shit thats hard core

[Full Intensity]

so did he have to cut through the bone or what?

[chinups]

Well I would say so. He had to cut his arm off, I am sure it was bone unless it was snapped at that part right there and it was a perfect break

[Pheedno]

I could not imagine the shock you would endure.


Pretty good protein value though

[BIG TEXAN]

Originally posted by Pheedno
Pretty good protein value though

You would be the one to say something like that!

[Pheedno]

Well, they couldn't find it when they went back so no good, but if they retrieved it, finger lickin good

Or I might of mounted it to the front door as a knocker.

[Sicilian30]

That guy is more of a man that I am.. that is all I gotta say, but in situations like that, when it comes to survival, we all react differently, instinct takes over. If you are thirsty or hungry or in fear of death, there is really no telling what you would do in that situation until you are put into it.
I say this guy had a strong will to survive, and that is why he is alive now and how we know about it.

[Red Ketchup]

Wow... I am impressed! Talk about balls-o-steel!

Thats definetly extreme will to survive. If I were stranded on a desert island, I'd like it to be with a beautifull redhead girl, but you know what... I think I'd rather have that guy around

Red

[aanold]

What really took balls is the fact that he had to do it with a pocket knife!! Damn!!

[Red Ketchup]

Naah if this guy is a backpacker like me, I am sure you can shave or perform surgery with his swiss army knife

I know you can with mine

Red

[BigGreen]

I guess that's kinda hardcore. Though I've occassionally hacked off a finger or one of the limbs I don't really need to psych myself up for a lift. Of course, I guess I'm not THAT hardcore, since I always have it packed immediately in ice so I can have it reattached. Then again, if I say i'm only having it reattached to hack it off again, does that make me hardcore?

Actually, truth be told, I'll skip an extra day or two shaving because razor burn makes me whimper...I'm so not hardcore. If that was me they woulda found me alright, but drowned in a lake of my own tears.

[Terinox]

Damn, I don't think I could ever do that. The pain itself, cutting through the bone, and watching it too, I mean OUCH!

[arby]

Wow.

The guy has a website with his hiking pictures even.

[Red Ketchup]

Originally posted by Terinox
Damn, I don't think I could ever do that. The pain itself, cutting through the bone, and watching it too, I mean OUCH!

Well, think about it this way...

He surely did not cut thru bone, if you've ever skinned a large animal you realize that one only needs a sharp pocket knife to take appart anything from a rabbit to a moose or cariboo. Just as long as you separate the bones at the joints and cut the ligaments.

This is only a guess, but I suspect that in his case, where the bounder pinned his arm, the bone was crushed, thus making it a little more practical to amputate. And the pain of cutting may also not have been as bad as we imagine.

I could be wrong, but I figure that after having his arm crushed under a boulder for six days there are good chances that the arm was just a dead chunk of meat.

With dehydration setting in, to amputate became a "do or die" situation.

Hmmm idea for a new reality TV show? naaah!

Red

[EXCESS]

His email address is [email protected] in case anybody wants to send a get well wish, although I'm sure his inbox is full.