Military

Inside the Custer County Rock Spire Rescue

August 2, 2022Noelle Wiehe
Custer County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team volunteers join Custer Ambulance Service personnel to carry an injured climber on a stretcher down a cliff in South Dakota's Black Hills on July 30, 2022. Photo courtesy Custer County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.

Custer County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team volunteers join Custer Ambulance Service personnel to carry an injured climber on a stretcher down a cliff in South Dakota's Black Hills on July 30, 2022. Photo courtesy Custer County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.

An expert climber with the Custer County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team, Paul Meir was six hours into his hike when he got a call about a man falling from a nearby rock spire.

It was Saturday, July 30, and the victim was a roughly 2-mile drive away, three stories down from a pillar in a part of South Dakota the 63-year-old Meir knew very well.

“This area of the Black Hills is called ‘The Needles,’ and there are granite formations that are like fingers, almost, that go up from 40 to hundreds of feet tall,” the retired locomotive engineer told Coffee or Die Magazine.

Meir parked his car near the Cathedral Spires trailhead and soon saw a man “facedown at the base of the spire needle,” in a small, “sloped, gravelly area.”

rock spire

Custer County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team volunteers and Custer Ambulance Service saved a fallen climber on July 30, 2022, near the Cathedral Spires trailhead in South Dakota's Custer State Park. Photo courtesy Custer County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.

Meir told Coffee or Die the hiker's climbing rope had saved him from tumbling farther down the needle. The rescuer began scaling the rock to apply first aid.

“He'd have been luckier if he had not fallen, but from our point of view, it was much simpler than if he had not gotten all the way to the bottom,” Meir said. “Rescuing somebody who is dangling from a rope on a vertical cliff becomes much more complex.”

Shortly after 2 p.m., a Custer Ambulance Service crew joined Meir and more than a dozen members of his all-volunteer rescue team.

They built a belay system to bring the injured man off the mountain.

rock spire

An injured climber is loaded into a Black Hills Life Flight helicopter on July 30, 2022, near the parking lot for the Cathedral Spires trailhead. Photo courtesy Custer County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue.

Meir told Coffee or Die the victim seemed to be a man under 30 years of age. He was conscious, alert, and moaning in pain as the rescuers started moving him off the cliff.

Waiting below was a Black Hills Life Flight helicopter that had touched down on pavement inside the park's cathedral of rocks.

Meir told Coffee or Die the entire rescue took about 45 minutes, from emergency dispatch to the helicopter’s dustoff to Rapid City.

“You would just never know when we're going to get called,” Meir said. “At this time of year, it's a real popular tourist area. There are a lot of people here. Calls are almost daily. And you never know when, so even eating meals regularly becomes important, because if we get a call, it might be hours before we're able to take enough time to get a bite to eat.”

Read Next: Rescuers, Troops Save Lives as Kentucky’s Lost Creek Rises

Noelle Wiehe
Noelle Wiehe

Noelle is a former staff writer for Coffee or Die through a fellowship from Military Veterans in Journalism. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and interned with the US Army Cadet Command. Noelle also worked as a civilian journalist covering several units, including the 75th Ranger Regiment on Fort Benning, before she joined the military as a public affairs specialist.

More from Coffee or Die Magazine
dear jack mandaville
Dear Jack: Which Historic Battle Would You Want To Witness?

Ever wonder how much Jack Mandaville would f*ck sh*t up if he went back in time? The American Revolution didn't even see him coming.

west point time capsule
West Point Time Capsule Yields Centuries-Old Coins

A nearly 200-year-old West Point time capsule that at first appeared to yield little more than dust contains hidden treasure, the US Military Academy said.

Ouija Board aircraft carrier
Low-Tech ‘Ouija Boards’ Have Helped Aircraft Carriers Operate for Decades

Since the 1920s, a low-tech tabletop replica of an aircraft carrier’s flight deck has been an essential tool in coordinating air operations.

Army vs. Navy mascot
The Navy Goat vs. the Army Mule: Mascot Origin Stories

For nearly as long as the Army-Navy football rivalry, the academies’ hoofed mascots have stared each other down from the sidelines. Here are their stories.

ukraine long-range weapon
Zelenskyy Says Ukraine Has Developed a Long-Range Weapon, a Day After Strike Deep Inside Russia

Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel the weapon was produced by Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries but gave no other details.

ambush
7 of the Best Movie Ambush Scenes of All Time

Ambushes make for great action scenes. Here are seven of the best to ever grace the big screen.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, with his daughter, center right, reportedly named Ju Ae, review the honor guard during their visit to the navy headquarter in North Korea
North Korea Launches Missile Toward Sea After US Flies Bomber During Drills

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the launch occurred Wednesday but gave no further details, such as how far the missile flew.

  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
Contact Us
Contact Us
© 2023 Coffee or Die Magazine. All Rights Reserved