Latest news with #boulder
Daily Mail
15-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Idaho boy, 18, is killed in freak accident while fishing and camping with friend
An Idaho teen was crushed to death after a boulder fell on him while he was fishing and camping with a friend. Sheldon Medford, 18, was out in Ahsahka on June 7 when the tragedy occurred, according to the Clearwater County Sheriff's Office. Medford and his unidentified friend set up camp along the North Fork of the Clearwater River below the Dworshak Dam. Police responded to a report that a boulder fell on an individual about one mile down Northfork Drive at around 9:35 p.m. MT. Upon arrival, first responders found Medford pinned under a large boulder and declared him deceased at the scene. Sheriff Chris Goetz told The Lewiston Tribune that the boulder tumbled down without warning and struck Medford's friend in the arm before landing on top of him. He said the rock from the top of the riverbank — not from the canyon hills above — and rolled toward Medford as he was fishing. The boulder was roughly 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet, according to the sheriff. Goetz said, 'This is the first time that has happened' along that popular fishing spot. Medford's heartbroken family has launched a GoFundMe to help raise funds for his funeral, which has yet to be scheduled. 'Sheldon touched so many throughout his life with his loving heart, kindness, laughter and love for the outdoors,' the fundraiser said. 'Sheldon was so much more than just a son and brother; he was a best friend, a partner in crime, an avid outdoorsman, a free spirit and a true source of joy and silliness. This loss was sudden and has left a void in our hearts.' His friend, Hunter Brown, said on Facebook, 'Sheldon and I have had some good memories together like shed hunting, turkey hunting and bear hunting, fishing. 'He was an awesome guy, always willing to help when you needed help and always willing to do anything.'
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Man experiences his own 127 Hours horror as he's pinned by 700lb boulder in Alaska water-filled canyon
An Alaska man was in for a thriller movie of his own when he found himself trapped under a 700-pound boulder during what was meant to be a peaceful canyon hike with his wife. On May 24, Kell Morris and Joanna Roop decided to avoid the crowded trails that Memorial Day weekend often brings and make their way to a secluded hike 120 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska. Little did they know that the decision would find them in their own version of the movie '127 Hours,' which follows a climber who was trapped for five days when a boulder crushed his arm. Played by James Franco, he finally chose to amputate his own limb rather than continue to wait for rescue and die in the process. The story, which is based on the experiences of real-life Aron Ralston, serves as a cautionary tale for outdoorsmen like Morris. Fortunately for Morris, no amputation was required for his dramatic three-hour rescue. The couple started their hike in a creek next to Godwin Glacier in Seward - and the icy path was lined with boulders. But since they'd hiked the path before, Morris and Roop weren't expecting any of those boulders to come tumbling down on them. As they walked, they avoided the rocks as best they could, but eventually came to a rocky area they could not pass. Before he knew it, the entire side of the creek slid out from under him and according to 'an avalanche of boulders' came tumbling down behind him. He felt one hit his back and next thing he knew, Morris, 61, was facedown on the ground completely unable to move. His wife, a 61-year-old former police officer, attempted to rescue him herself. But after half an hour she left to find cell service and call for help. Morris told Daily Mail he was unsure they'd be able to get any help at all because of how remote the location was. The hiker also couldn't be reached by all-terrain vehicles, leaving emergency services to look for other solutions. In a stroke of luck, a firefighter at Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department overheard the 911 dispatch, according to The New York Times. He happened to work for Seward Helicopter Tours and offered up one of their choppers to usher first responders to the scene of the incident. While they waited, the freezing water from the creek surrounding Morris continued to rise, thanks to pressure from the boulder and the melting glaciers. In a heroic move, Roop held her husband's head above water to keep him from drowning. Finally, 45 minutes later, firefighters from Bear Creek and the Seward Fire Department got to work. But, the process of moving a 700-pound boulder is easier said than done. It took seven men three hours to rescue Morris. At first, he said, 'everything was about assessing how bad it was.' Since Morris was stable, his wife and the firefighters took their time figuring out how best to approach the removal. The whole time, he drifted in and out of consciousness. Neither he nor his wife were sure he would make it out. Even Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites wasn't confident. 'I fully anticipated a body recovery, not him walking away without a scratch on him,' Crites said. Miraculously, other rocks beneath the boulder held a lot of its weight off of Morris. As the giant rock held him down, Morris said he felt sharp tension in his leg and expected to walk away with a broken femur at the very least. But thanks to the quick thinking of his wife and the local fire departments, he left with some just some bruising and what he thinks is a touch of frostbite. In fact he went back to work just three days later, and said he would've gone sooner had his wife let him. The worst consequences is people condemning for going out on the undefined trail in the first place. But Morris says he's an avid adventurer and nothing of this kind has ever happened before. He doubts it will happen again. 'I've done a lot of adventurous stuff in my life,' he told Daily Mail. 'I'm not the one taking care of myself. God takes care of me.' The movie-worthy incident hasn't deterred Morris from hiking, either. He and his wife went out again the following weekend. He credits his rescue to the volunteers who made the trek to the remote trail to help him. 'I would like them to be better appreciated. And for people to volunteer in their community,' he told Daily Mail.
CNN
31-05-2025
- General
- CNN
A 700-pound boulder pinned Alaska man face down in a glacier creek for 3 hours
Anchorage, Alaska AP — An Alaska man who was pinned face down in an icy creek by a 700-pound boulder for three hours survived the ordeal with only minor injuries, thanks in part to his wife's quick thinking and lots of luck. Kell Morris' wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning while waiting for rescuers to arrive after Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during a hike near a remote glacier south of Anchorage. His second stroke of luck came when a sled dog tourism company that operates on the glacier overheard the 911 dispatch and offered up its helicopter to ferry rescuers to the scene, which was inaccessible to all-terrain vehicles. Once rescuers arrived, it took seven men and inflatable air bags to lift the boulder off as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Morris, 61, said he realizes he is probably the luckiest man alive. 'And luckier that I have such a great wife,' he said Thursday. His wife, Jo Roop, is a retired Alaska State Trooper. They moved to Seward, about 120 miles south of Anchorage, from Idaho last fall when she took a job with the local police department. Last Saturday, they wanted to avoid the big crowds that converge on the Kenai Peninsula community during holidays and decided to hike near Godwin Glacier on an isolated and undeveloped trail behind a state prison, Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites said. Their trail was actually a rocky creek bed lined with large boulders deposited by the glacier. Morris said he noticed dangerous boulders, some weighing up to 1,000 pounds along the banks of the creek and avoided them the best he could, until he ran into an area he couldn't pass. 'I was coming back and everything, the whole side, slid out from under me,' he said. He said things became a blur as he tumbled down the embankment about 20 feet (6 meters), landing face down in the water. Then he immediately felt the boulder hit his back in what Crites described as 'basically an avalanche of boulders.' The way Morris landed, there were rocks under him, in between his legs and around him that caught the weight of the boulder, preventing him from being crushed, Crites said. But the massive rock still had him pinned, and Morris felt intense pain in his left leg and waited for his femur to snap. 'When it first happened, I was doubtful that there was going to be a good outcome,' Morris said. His wife tried to free him for about 30 minutes, putting rocks under the boulder and trying to roll it off him, before she left to find a cell signal. Amazingly, she only had to walk about 300 yards to connect with 911 and relied on her law enforcement experience to send exact GPS coordinates to dispatch. A volunteer at the neighboring Bear Creek Fire Department heard the call while working at the sled dog tourism operation and diverted the helicopter used to ferry tourists to the scene. Ultimately, firefighters who couldn't navigate their all-terrain vehicles over the boulder field jumped out of the helicopter. By this time, Morris was hypothermic from the cold water running off the glacier, Crites said, and his wife was holding his head out of the water. 'I think if we hadn't had that private helicopter assist us, it would have taken us at least another 45 minutes to get to him, and I'm not sure he had that much time,' Crites said. The firefighters used two air bags normally reserved to extract people from wrecked vehicles to slightly lift the boulder. 'But then it just became an all-hands brute force of 'one, two, three, push,'' Crites said. 'And seven guys were able to lift it enough to pull the victim out.' An Alaska National Guard helicopter lifted them out of the creek bed with a rescue basket. Morris spent two nights at the local hospital for observation but walked away unscathed. 'I fully anticipated a body recovery, not him walking away without a scratch on him,' Crites said. Morris, who is now reflecting on his ordeal at home, acknowledged it might have been a little wake-up call to stop doing things like this at his age. 'I was very lucky. God was looking out for me,' he said. When he and his wife go hiking this weekend, they are going to stick to established trails. 'We're going to stop the trailblazing,' he said.
The Guardian
30-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Alaska man survives after being trapped face-down in creek by 700lb boulder
An Alaska man who was pinned facedown in an icy creek by a 700lb (318kg) boulder for three hours survived the ordeal with only minor injuries, thanks in part to his wife's quick thinking and lots of luck. Kell Morris' wife held his head above water to prevent him from drowning while waiting for rescuers to arrive after Morris was pinned by the boulder, which crashed onto him during a hike near a remote glacier south of Anchorage. His second stroke of luck came when a sled dog tourism company that operates on the glacier overheard the 911 dispatch and offered up its helicopter to ferry rescuers to the scene, which was inaccessible to all-terrain vehicles. Once rescuers arrived, it took seven men and inflatable air bags to lift the boulder off as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Morris, 61, said he realizes he is probably the luckiest man alive. 'And luckier that I have such a great wife,' he said Thursday. His wife, Jo Roop, is a retired Alaska State Trooper. They moved to Seward, about 120 miles (193km) south of Anchorage, from Idaho last fall when she took a job with the local police department. Last Saturday, they wanted to avoid the big crowds that converge on the Kenai Peninsula community during holidays and decided to hike near Godwin Glacier on an isolated and undeveloped trail behind a state prison, said Clinton Crites, the Seward fire chief. Their trail was actually a rocky creek bed lined with large boulders deposited by the glacier. Morris said he noticed dangerous boulders, some weighing up to 1,000lbs (454kg), along the banks of the creek and avoided them the best he could, until he ran into an area he couldn't pass. 'I was coming back and everything, the whole side slid out from under me,' he said. He said things became a blur as he tumbled down the embankment about 20ft (6 meters), landing face down in the water. Then he immediately felt the boulder hit his back in what Crites described as 'basically an avalanche of boulders'. The way Morris landed, there were rocks under him, in between his legs and around him that caught the weight of the boulder, preventing him from being crushed, Crites said. But the massive rock still had him pinned, and Morris felt intense pain in his left leg and waited for his femur to snap. 'When it first happened, I was doubtful that there was going to be a good outcome,' Morris said. His wife tried to free him for about 30 minutes, putting rocks under the boulder and trying to roll it off him, before she left to find a cell signal. Amazingly, she only had to walk about 300 yards (274 meters) to connect with 911 and relied on her law enforcement experience to send exact GPS coordinates to dispatch. A volunteer at the neighboring Bear Creek fire department heard the call while working at the sled dog tourism operation and diverted the helicopter used to ferry tourists to the scene. Ultimately, firefighters who couldn't navigate their all-terrain vehicles over the boulder field jumped out of the helicopter. By this time, Morris was hypothermic from the cold water running off the glacier, Crites said, and his wife was holding his head out of the water. 'I think if we hadn't had that private helicopter assist us, it would have taken us at least another 45 minutes to get to him, and I'm not sure he had that much time,' Crites said. The firefighters used two air bags normally reserved to extract people from wrecked vehicles to slightly lift the boulder. 'But then it just became an all-hands brute force of 'one, two, three, push,' ' Crites said. 'And seven guys were able to lift it enough to pull the victim out.' An Alaska National Guard helicopter lifted them out of the creek bed with a rescue basket. Morris spent two nights at the local hospital for observation but walked away unscathed. 'I fully anticipated a body recovery, not him walking away without a scratch on him,' Crites said. Morris, who is now reflecting on his ordeal at home, acknowledged it might have been a little wake-up call to stop doing things like this at his age. 'I was very lucky. God was looking out for me,' he said. When he and his wife go hiking this weekend, they are going to stick to established trails. 'We're going to stop the trailblazing,' he said.
The Sun
30-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
I was minutes from death pinned down by 700lb boulder after horror hike rockfall – but luck and a great wife saved me
A HIKER miraculously survived being pinned face down by a 700 pound boulder for three hours during a horror trek in Alaska. Kell Morris pulled through the terrifying ordeal thanks to his wife's quick thinking, escaping with just minor injuries. 4 4 4 He became trapped during a hike with his wife Jo Roop near Godwin Glacier, south of Anchorage. The couple wanted to avoid the big crowds, so they set out on an isolated trail behind a state prison. Morris noticed dangerous boulders along the route, some weighing up to 1,000 pounds, and tried to avoid them as best as he could. But then suddenly a 700-pound boulder slammed him 20 feet down into an icy cold creek, trapping him in the water. "I was coming back and everything, the whole side slid out from under me," the 61-year-old said. Luckily, the way the rocks around him landed supported the full weight of the boulder, preventing it from completely crushing him. But he still felt and intense pain in his left leg as he lay trapped in position. Morris told the Associated Press: "When it first happened, I was doubtful that there was going to be a good outcome." His wife, a police officer and former state trooper, quickly came to the rescue. She attempted for about 30 minutes to pry him out from underneath the massive rock, but then went to try and find phone signal. Shock vid shows hero cops pull driver from car just SECONDS before its obliterated by speeding train on level crossing Mercifully, she only had to go around 300 yards to connect to 911, and her law enforcement experience helped her direct rescuers to the exact co-ordinates. A volunteer at the Bear Creek Fire Department heard the call and managed to fly a helicopter to the scene. Firefighters would use the helicopter to access the scene as their all-terrain vehicles could not reach the spot. By the time they got there, Morris was hypothermic, but was aided by his wife holding his head above the water. "I think if we hadn't had that private helicopter assist us, it would have taken us at least another 45 minutes to get to him, and I'm not sure he had that much time," Seward Fire Chief Clinton Crites said. Emergency responders used airbags designed to help people get out of wrecked vehicles to slightly lift the boulder. "But then it just became an all-hands brute force of 'one, two, three, push," Crites added. "And seven guys were able to lift it enough to pull the victim out." An Alaska National Guard helicopter got them out of the creek with a rescue basket. Morris spent two nights in hospital for observation, but only endured minor injuries. He has since described himself as the luckiest man alive. "And luckier that I have such a great wife." "I was very lucky. God was looking out for me," he added.
