Billings, Montana — As David Cifaldi and his two friends ventured across Montana’s foreboding Froze-to-Death Plateau, nearing the state’s tallest summit, their journey abruptly spiraled into a dangerous ordeal. Unexpectedly, Cifaldi slipped, causing his trekking pole to pierce his body.
The 44-inch pole, with its steel tip, went through the flesh beneath Cifaldi’s left arm. Fortunately, it missed vital organs, only to protrude through his back. After a quick discussion with his companions and considering the prohibitive cost of a helicopter rescue, Cifaldi resolved to save himself.
Recalling the initial reaction of his friends, Cifaldi said, “I thought, ‘We’ve got to get off this mountain.’ But they were hesitant. I assured them, ‘It’s likely outside my chest wall. Just a mere flesh wound.'”
David Cifaldi via AP
The 32-year-old nurse, specializing in wound care at a Billings hospital, conducted a self-examination. He remained alert and experienced minimal pain or bleeding. The pole was stable. Utilizing a Garmin inReach, a satellite communication device, the group reached out to local authorities to inform them of their self-rescue plan.
Meticulously, they began their descent from the plateau, charting a path across unmarked terrain. They navigated boulders and snowy fields, eventually bushwhacking their way toward a recognizable trail.
After more than six hours in which they traveled about 10 miles and descended roughly 5,000 feet, the group reached a trailhead where one of them, Cifaldi’s friend Jesse Ross, had parked a vehicle.
“The only reason it was possible at all was his confidence,” Ross recalled. “Who are we to say anything? He’s the medical person. Our job is just to support at that point.”
Cifaldi had long wanted to climb Granite Peak. At 12,800 feet, Montana’s tallest mountain is prone to unpredictable weather including dangerous lightning storms and bitter cold. Hundreds of people annually try to reach the rocky summit; many come up short. In 2019, authorities said a 65-year-old Minnesota man who was an experienced climber fell about 150 feet to his death after reaching nearly the top of Granite Peak with his son.
As Cifaldi and his companions started hiking out, the pole awkwardly sticking out of his side, Stillwater County Search and Rescue team commander Ty Williams monitored the group’s progress via a dispatcher who took calls from the group.
The first call came in at 9:44 a.m. on July 20, right after Cifaldi impaled himself. At 1:30 p.m. the trio said they were getting closer to the trailhead and to let the nearest hospital know they were coming, Williams said.
“There was no danger to anybody else. He didn’t want our help and so we’re not going to essentially violate his rights or go against his wishes by forcing our help on him,” Williams said.
By about 3:30 p.m., the hikers were in Ross’ vehicle, headed to the nearest clinic, Cifaldi said.
When they arrived, they were told Cifaldi needed more advanced treatment, in Billings. So they got back in Ross’ truck and kept driving to the hospital where he works, St. Vincent Regional Hospital.
Doctors removed the pole, bandaged him up and Cifaldi was back at work this week.
“I think 99 times out of a hundred I would make the same decision,” Cifaldi said as he sat in Ross’ front yard in Billings. “Search and rescue coming to help you is free. The flight’s not. That was a factor in me deciding to self-rescue. But the fact that I had two experienced great friends with me and we had the ability to contact search and rescue if something went wrong made that a lot more of an easy decision.”