OUTDOORS

11-year-old climber survives 50-foot fall at Smith Rock

Charles Gearing
Salem Statesman Journal
Smith Rock State Park in Central Oregon.

An 11-year-old from Redmond is recovering after falling 50 feet while climbing at Smith Rock State Park in late April.

Cohen Schaumann was practicing rappelling with his grandfather on the 5.8-rated Rope-de-Crack. Despite numerous safety checks from his grandfather below, Schaumann accidentally unhooked all of his anchors, rather than just his personal anchor system, as he began his descent, according to a report from Climbing magazine.

Schaumann hit the wall on the way down before landing on a patch of soft, compact dirt.

According to the article, Schaumann sustained a broken pelvis, wrist, ankle and ribs, as well as two collapsed lungs, and a lacerated kidney and liver. He additionally fractured two vertebrae. After the accident, immediate attention from a wilderness first responder and a certified EMT helped save Schaumann's life. He was taken by helicopter from Smith Rock to Bend, and later transferred to Portland.

Schaumann was expected to make a full recovery. A GoFundMe account created to help fund Schaumann's recovery seeks to raise $100,000. As of Thursday, $55,000 had been raised.

Charles Gearing is an outdoors journalism intern for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at cgearing@gannett.com.