Rangers rescued an injured climber from Garnet Canyon Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and evacuated her via helicopter to St. John’s Medical Center, where she remains for treatment.

Ava Bell, 22, of Laramie, slipped and fell at approximately 2:15 p.m. while scrambling up a rocky slope to reach the start of a popular multi-pitch climbing route called Open Book on the south side of Disappointment Peak.

Bell fell between 70 to 100 feet before coming to a stop. She sustained injuries to her thorax and received multiple lacerations and bruises during the accident. Friends reported Sunday that Bell also broke several bones during the accident.

Park officials report that Bell and four climbing companions were at 9,400 feet when she slipped. Bell was not roped up nor was she wearing a helmet at the time, but climbers do not usually rope up or wear helmets on the approach to Open Book, rated 5.9 on the Yosemite decimal system.

After Bell tumbled, one of her climbing partners scrambled back down into Garnet Canyon to get cell phone reception and called authorities at 2:47 p.m. Two park rangers immediately set out on foot, covering about four miles with an elevation gain of 2,700 feet in 90 degree heat, and reached Bell in less than two hours at 4:50 p.m.

Rangers gave Bell emergency medical care and, because of the nature of her injuries and the location of the accident, decided to evacuate her by a helicopter rather than moving her over rocky terrain on a wheeled litter.

An interagency helicopter flew into Garnet Canyon meadows where three additional park rangers prepared for a helicopter short-haul evacuation.

The helicopter then flew to the accident where rangers placed Bell into an evacuation suit and suspended below the helicopter on a double rope system for a short flight back to Garnet Canyon meadows. The helicopter hovered over the landing site at the meadows while rangers released Bell from the helicopter’s suspended rope.

After the helicopter landed, Bell was placed inside the helicopter, accompanied by two rangers, for the final flight to Lupine Meadows on the valley floor. Bell was then transported by ambulance to St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson.

This marks the sixteenth major search and rescue operation in Grand Teton National Park this year.