David Cifaldi made a split-second decision that likely saved his life. After a trekking pole punctured through his torso during a fall near the summit of Montana's Granite Peak, the emergency room nurse did what his training demanded: he assessed the wound, consulted with his friends, and walked himself off the mountain.
The accident happened on July 20 when Cifaldi, along with companions Jesse Ross and Brad Reich, slipped on rocks just 1,000 feet below the 12,803-foot summit. One of his two poles went clean through his body, entering below his left arm and exiting through his lower back. The injuries, though severe, miraculously spared vital organs by inches.
"By the time I rolled over, I kind of knew something wasn't right," Cifaldi told CBS News. But his medical background kicked in immediately. He could feel the pole protruding through his skin. He could take deep breaths. There was no life-threatening bleeding or lightheadedness. The pole remained stable in place.
With authorities alerted via satellite communicator, the three hikers made the counterintuitive choice to begin the long trek back down the mountain rather than wait for a helicopter rescue. Cifaldi wanted to walk out under his own power.
"I think my nurse brain clicked on," he said in an interview with Montana's Local 12 news station. "As soon as I was able to self-assess and establish that this was not life-threatening right now, I was pretty convinced I was going to get off that mountain under my own power."
The six-and-a-half-hour descent tested every ounce of his resolve. Ross and Reich flanked him the entire way, one walking behind to steady him on the treacherous terrain, the other ahead warning approaching hikers about the gruesome sight. Ross later described Cifaldi's demeanor during the ordeal as remarkably composed, never complaining and maintaining high spirits despite carrying a trekking pole through his abdomen.
When Cifaldi reached the trailhead, he was driven two hours to a hospital in Billings, where surgeons carefully extracted the pole. He credited his narrow escape to luck and positioning. "A couple inches the other way and this would be a different story," he said.
Granite Peak, located in the Beartooth range, has claimed attention throughout its climbing history. It remained unconquered until 1923, and remarkably few climbers reached the summit in the decades that followed. The mountain was also the site of Ernest Bruffey's mysterious 1959 disappearance during a solo expedition, a case that went unsolved for over four decades until human remains believed to be his were discovered in 2000.
Cifaldi and his friends aren't done with the mountain yet. Once fully healed, they plan to return and summit Granite Peak properly this time.
Author James Rodriguez: "A guy who gets a pole through his ribs and decides to hike himself off a mountain deserves to finish what he started."
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