OJAI : Man Seriously Injured After 75-Foot Fall
An Oxnard man was in serious condition Saturday after he fell 75 feet while rock climbing on an icy mountainside north of Ojai, authorities said.
Saul Magana, 18, was taken by helicopter to Ventura County Medical Center after sustaining head trauma from the fall, officials said.
Magana had traveled with friends to the mountain area in search of snow, said officials of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. When they found none, the men attempted to climb up the back side of Pine Mountain.
Magana’s climbing partners told hospital officials that as the climbers got higher on the rocks they ran into patches of ice, which caused Magana to fall, a nursing supervisor said.
Sheriff’s officials said Magana had consumed two 40 ounce bottles of beer before starting the climb.
After Magana fell 75 feet from the rocks, his friends hiked down the mountain, hailed a passing motorist on California 33 and asked him to call for help, a sheriff’s spokesman said.
When deputies arrived, Magana was unconscious, and hospital officials said he had not regained consciousness by late Saturday.
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