Just after 3 p.m. on September 1, Eric Hengesbaugh, 27, was climbing broken terrain on the fourth pitch of the East Face (II 5.7) of the Surgicle, a tooth-like feature on Temple Crag in the Palisades of California...

Just after 3 p.m. on September 1, Eric Hengesbaugh, 27, was climbing broken terrain on the fourth pitch of the East Face (II 5.7) of the Surgicle, a tooth-like feature on Temple Crag in the Palisades of California. In an unpublished write-up, Hengesbaugh described what happened: “I moved my hands to a large block. As I leaned back, the rock shifted so I let go, falling approximately 35 feet and impacting a ledge.” His right ankle, he wrote, was turned “grotesquely outward” and he felt terrible pain in his lower back.

Hengesbaugh’s partner, Peter Chagnon, 22, was able to climb over and help Hengesbaugh back to the belay. Given the pain near Hengesbaugh’s spine, the two decided to sit tight and wait for a rescue. They yelled for help, hoping to alert Hengesbaugh’s twin brother, Brian, and another friend, Gabe Kiritz, also 27, who were climbing nearby on the North Rib (II 5.8).

Hearing the cries, Kiritz and Brian began rappelling their route, aiming to meet Eric and Chagnon on the ground. After a problematic rappel that involved a stuck rope and lots of gear abandoned for anchors, Kiritz and Brian arrived at the base. When they couldn’t locate Eric and Chagnon, Kiritz and Brian attempted to climb up the East Face. They lacked adequate gear, however, so they retreated, dealt with yet another stuck rope and eventually scrambled up a gully to the top of the East Face and began rappelling.