Bruised and battered, his left eye swollen by a cracked skull, Jerome Stiller held a bloodied, dented climber’s helmet above his St. Anthony’s Central hospital bed Monday and credited it with saving his life.
Stiller, a part-time teacher from Golden, fell almost 100 feet while climbing in Eldorado Canyon State Park southwest of Boulder Saturday. His body slammed against the canyon wall before a safety clamp and his climbing partner caught him.
“I must have bounced off a lot of stuff on the way down,” said Stiller, 50, who also is a veteran of the Alpine Rescue Team in Jefferson and Clear Creek counties.
Stiller was climbing recreationally Saturday morning on a moderately difficult wall with another Alpine volunteer, Brian Steuve, when he fell. He credits Steuve, who held a safety rope, with keeping him alive.
He has no memory of the fall itself but said he might have grabbed onto a loose rock that gave way.
Along with the head injuries, Stiller has scrapes or “rock rash” across his back, down his arms and legs, a shattered right shoulder blade and a broken bone in his right lower leg.
Members of the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, which operates in Boulder County, helped get the Rochester, N.Y., native to a medical helicopter.
Eldorado Canyon is popular with climbers, said Steve Chapell, group leader of Rocky Mountain Rescue. Stiller was the third climber who had to be rescued from the canyon within about the past week, he said.
The route Stiller took is not beyond his abilities, Stiller said.
“I have always been a careful climber,” Stiller said. “This was a fairly easy route that I had done a few times before.”
Stiller said he was disappointed he would likely miss the summer climbing season because of his injuries but expects to complete rehabilitation in the fall.
“Guess there’s always ice climbing season,” he said.
Staff writer Manny Gonzales can be reached at 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com.
