Cypress Man Killed in Fall From Catalina Island Cliff

A 19-year-old Cypress man died after he fell 70 feet while attempting to scale a sheer rock cliff overlooking the surf just south of Avalon Harbor on Santa Catalina Island, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said Wednesday.

Todd Gregoire, who was hiking with a companion, was pronounced dead at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance about 10 p.m. Tuesday, three hours after rescuers finally reached him below a vertical rock wall in treacherous surf conditions, Deputy Gabe Ramirez said.

“It began as a casual hike. . . . That’s how these things start off,” said Lt. John McKay, a Los Angeles County lifeguard spokesman. “But it was old, brittle rock, and they carried no rock-climbing equipment.”

Rescuers said they knew Gregoire’s condition was deteriorating rapidly as they struggled to reach him. But they were forced to climb slowly and could carry only limited rescue equipment as they edged down the cliff to the spot where Gregoire was sprawled on a ledge, McKay said.

“The water was surging and the tide was coming in,” McKay said. “Our men were almost getting swept off the rocks themselves. It was one of those situations where we had to minimize the number of people on a rescue to minimize injury to them.”

One rescuer suffered cuts from falling rocks, and another nearly fell into the water when a stretcher basket being lowered by a Coast Guard helicopter struck him on the head. Both injuries were minor, McKay said.

After two rescuers climbed down to Gregoire, other rescuers had to dive in the water from a patrol boat and ferry life-saving equipment to the base of the cliff, McKay said.

Although a helicopter was called in, it was unable to maneuver close enough to pull him up because of the rocky cliff and testy wind drafts.

Instead, rescuers lowered an inflatable life raft, loaded Gregoire in and pushed the raft out into the surf, where it was tied to a patrol boat. As the helicopter circled for a second attempt to lift Gregoire, McKay said, its rotors churned up too much water, making a lift impossible.

“We could have saved some time with a direct lift into the helicopter, but we just couldn’t,” McKay said. “We took the patient by boat about two miles to Catalina Harbor and he flew from there to a hospital.”

Authorities said that Gregoire had taken a ferry from the mainland and arrived about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday to met his friend, Shane Anderson, 20, of Cypress, who had been working on the island.

The two friends, one garbed in jeans and the other in shorts, decided to hike up to a 500-foot summit. They carried no rock-climbing equipment, McKay said.

About 75 feet up the face of a rocky cliff, both climbers could no longer find any convenient holds for their hands or shoes. Unable to climb in any direction, the two were trapped, Anderson told rescuers.

Gregoire then apparently slipped and fell. Anderson, who was several feet below Gregoire, said he never saw his friend fall.