Climber survives 100 foot fall

DENVER, May 22 (UPI) -- A climber was hospitalized in Denver after he fell about 100 feet on a mountain face, hitting multiple ridges on the way down.

Jerome Stiller broke a shoulder blade, the bone above his left eye, a small bone in his back and a leg as well as sustaining multiple scrape wounds, including one on his eye, the Rocky Mountain News reported Tuesday.

"I hit a lot of things," Stiller said Monday at St. Anthony Central Hospital. "I must have bounced off a lot of stuff on the way down."

Stiller, a part-time instructor in Regis University's teacher training program and an active member of the Alpine Rescue Team was in the area to assist with rescue drills with the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group.

However, during a climb prior to the drills, a metal anchor embedded in the rock came free and he was left dangling by another metal anchor 30 feet below his original position. He fell about 100 feet.