ASHEVILLE, N.C., March 11 (UPI) -- A helicopter rescue team lifted an injured climber from a remote mountainside in western North Carolina, getting him to a hospital.
The climber had fallen 20 to 40 feet Monday on Shortoff Mountain in Pisgah National Forest, WSOC-TV, Charlotte, reported. The mountain is in the Linville Gorge area of the forest.
The North Carolina Helo-Aquatic Rescue Team responded, dispatching a National Guard helicopter with a crew from different agencies. After two crew members rappelled down to the 23-year-old injured man, they were able to get him on a backboard and into the Blackhawk chopper.
The climber was taken to a hospital in Asheville.
David Bowman of the Charlotte Fire Department and Chris Hendricks, a paramedic with Gaston County, made the rescue.
"We've been practicing for this moment for over 10 years," Bowman told WSOC. "He was in a lot of pain so there wasn't a lot of interaction other than I was telling him what was going to happen."
