On the evening of September 9 last week, 19-year-old Brenna Fisch, a University of Colorado sophomore, went bouldering on The Dome in Boulder Canyon just west of the town of Boulder, Colorado. Instead of bouldering close to the ground, Fisch began soloing up The Owl, a popular 5.7 crack climb up The Dome, a 200-foot-high granite cliff.
Although the time line is not exactly known, it appears that Brenna slipped, then slid and fell 40 down the cliff to the base at about 6 p.m. or about an hour before sunset. She suffered a severe head injury, crushing her eye socket and forehead. Brenna, slipping in and out of consciousness, had enough awareness, however, to realize she needed help so she began crawling down the cliff access path to a bike path below.
Brenna managed to crawl about 100 feet before she was found 12 hours later at 6:30 a.m. the next morning by Fiona Dunne and Eric Simley, a couple climbers and CU graduate students. Brenna, who was not dressed for the night's upper 40-degree temperatures with spandex shorts, sports bra, and shoes, was in bad shape and hypothermic.
Fiona Dunne told the Boulder Daily Camera, "You could just see her legs coming out from behind the rock at first. They were bare and bloody. One of the first things that she said was that she was cold and did we have anything to cover her up with. She said she was there since last night and she wasn't sure how long." Simley said that they thought at first that she had been attacked by an animal, not in a climbing accident.
Brenna Fisch was evacuated by the rescuers and taken to Boulder Community Hospital where surgeons repaired her skull, rebuilt her eye socket, and reattached an ear. Diana Fisch, her mother who lives in Switzerland, flew to Boulder to be with Brenna.
Diana Fisch says Brenna has been in and out of consciousness but is aware of what happened. Diana Fisch told ABCNews.com, "At one point she figured out what happened (and said), 'I'm so sorry, Mommy. Please tell everybody I'm so sorry I made them worry.'" Brenna also has been speaking in tongues--British English, French, and Spanish.
Good luck to Brenna. She's a lucky girl but has a long road to recovery ahead.
Photographs above: (Top) The Dome in Boulder Canyon. The Owl climbs up between the two roofs in the middle of the cliff. Photograph © Stewart M. Green. (Bottom) Brenna Fisch. Photograph courtesy Fisch Family.
Comments
Note that Brenna has studied several languages, including those listed in the article. This is not a mystical occurrence where she suddenly started speaking languages she didn’t previously know.
We wish her to get better soon, and never go back alone to practice any outdoor sport. I have seen people riding mtb bikes alone on 3 to 6 hours trails. Please don’t do that.
Best wishes.
Also it was not Brenna’s intent to solo the owl, she was hiking among the lower part, and had not sent out to rock climb.
How is she doing now, two weeks later? Hope she’s mending quickly.