Montana man hikes 10 miles to safety after trekking pole pierces his torso
David Cifaldi walked 10 miles with a trekking pole through his body after a fall on Granite Peak, relying on his nursing training to self-rescue.
A Montana man, David Cifaldi, hiked 10 miles to safety with a trekking pole impaled through his torso after a fall during a hike on Granite Peak, the state's highest mountain at 12,803 feet (3,902 meters). The accident occurred on July 20 while he was climbing with two friends, Jesse Ross and Brad Reich. Cifaldi slipped on rocks near the summit and fell onto one of his trekking poles. The pole entered his body below his left arm and exited through his lower back, narrowly missing vital organs.
As a trained emergency room nurse specializing in wound care, Cifaldi quickly assessed his condition. He determined there was no significant bleeding, he had full feeling in his body, and he could breathe deeply. With his friends' help, he decided to self-rescue rather than wait for extraction. They used a satellite communicator to alert authorities but chose to hike back down the same route.
One friend walked ahead to warn other hikers, especially families with children, about the gruesome wound. Another stayed behind to ensure Cifaldi remained steady on the rough terrain. After six and a half hours, they reached the trailhead. Cifaldi was taken to a local clinic and then driven two hours to a hospital in Billings, where surgeons carefully removed the pole.
Cifaldi expressed gratitude, noting that a few inches in another direction would have changed the outcome. Once fully healed, he and his friends plan to attempt the summit again. Granite Peak, located in the Beartooth Mountains, is historically significant: first conquered in 1923, it was the site of climber Ernest Bruffey's mysterious disappearance in 1959, whose remains were found in 2000.
