A California teen who walked off a cliff while experiencing altitude-related hallucinations on the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states has begun a slow recovery but remains in a medically induced coma, his family said.
Early this month, Zane Wach, 14, ascended Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada with his father, Ryan, an experienced hiker, on the Mountaineer’s Route — an eight-mile route described as “steep” and “unmaintained” by the Sierra Mountain Center. As the Wachs began their descent toward their car on a safer route, Zane began to experience hallucinations of “snowmen,” on the trail and was in an “altered mental state,” Ryan Wach told SFGate.
“It was completely bizarre,” Wach said in an interview with SFGate. “He told me he couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or not, and he would shake his head in disbelief, like, ‘This is not real.’ Like he was in the movie ‘Inception’ or something.”
Mt. Whitney’s peaks draw 30,000 hikers each year and an average of two suffer fatal injuries annually, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Climbers who wish to ascend during peak spring and summer months, between May 1 and Nov. 1, must apply for a permit through a lottery system, which limits the mountain to 100 climbers per day and only 60 for “difficult” overnight climbs.
The Mountaineer’s Route is a path for experienced hikers to ascend to the summit of Mt. Whitney, which is over 14,000 feet in elevation. It is unclear whether the Wachs reached the summit, but according to the CDC, any travelers reaching altitudes of 8,000 feet — sometimes lower — are susceptible to altitude sickness and symptoms, such as confusion and feelings of “intoxication,” that are usually associated with brain swelling.
Zane phased in and out of delirium as they continued their descent, and the two stopped periodically to take a rest while Zane attempted to regain lucidity, Wach told the Independent. His son would “sleepwalk” away from his father toward the edges of the trail, Wach added.
Another group of hikers, including an EMT, evaluated Zane’s condition once they noticed his mental deterioration. Wach told the Independent that once he briefly took his eyes off of his son, Zane “veered” toward the edge of a deep slope and fell an estimated 120 feet.
“I didn’t see how there would be a way for him to survive it, so I screamed. I was yelling ‘no,’” Wach told the Independent.
However, Zane was semi-conscious when his father reached him, and the nearby hikers contacted rescue teams, Wach said. The Inyo County Search and Rescue team worked for around six hours to rescue Zane as his father attempted to keep him warm, authorities said.
Zane was flown to the Sunrise Children’s Hospital in Las Vegas, the nearest pediatric trauma center, according to the family’s GoFundMe. While Zane had suffered head trauma and was put into a medically-induced coma, he was spared any major bodily injury. Wach told SFGATE that his son fractured an ankle and a finger and broke a part of his pelvis.
Zane remains in a medically-induced coma, but began to breathe without medical assistance nearly three weeks after his fall in a “giant milestone” toward his recovery, Wach said in a post on Facebook shared by Zane’s grandmother.
Wach added that doctors are currently attempting to wean Zane off heavy medication.
“He’s been on a lot of heavy drugs for a while and getting off those is extremely hard and painful,” Wach wrote. “As parents, it’s terrible to watch. We hope he gets through this with the least possible suffering,”
