Cause of fall: failed device

A man climbing the rock base leading to Ravens Roost Overlook, not far from Wintergreen suffered lower back and lower extremity injuries but was responsive as he was flown Monday to the University of Virginia Medical Center, according to rescue personnel.
Wintergreen Fire Chief Curtis Sheets said the man fell 40 feet after his blade device failed. Along with Wintergreen Fire and Rescue personnel, the Waynesboro First Aid Crew, the Dooms Fire Company and the National Park Service responded to the incident.
Sheets believes the victim is from the Shenandoah Valley region, and was one of two or three people on the climb at the time of the incident. A climbing partner of the man’s called 911 at 6:01 p.m.
“He was reported to have fallen 60 to 70 feet and being unresponsive,” Sheets said. “But he wasn’t unresponsive, and he hadn’t fallen quite that far.”
Sheets said the department typically helps with one cliff rescue about once every two years, and about 30 incidents overall between mileposts 5 and 20.
Emergency crews used a sled and rope system to pull the man up a loose rock trail to the top of the overlook, pulling him to safety by about 7:20 p.m.
Sheets said anyone with an emergency on the Blue Ridge Parkway should call 1-800-PARKWATCH. He said that while there isn’t anything wrong with calling 911, “if you can call parkwatch while on the Parkway, it tends to be a better plan” because National Park Service dispatchers are trained to recognize monuments the callers say they are seeing.