‘Tis but a flesh wound!’: After impaling himself with trekking pole, man walks 10 miles to safety

Impaled by his own trekking pole high on a mountain, David Cifaldi knew who would save him: himself.

The impaled climber travelled about 16 kilometres and descended roughly 5,000 feet over the course of six hours with the pole in his body.

David Cifaldi and his two hiking companions were crossing Montana's ominous Froze-to-Death Plateau and approaching the top of the state's highest peak when their adventure took a bizarre and dangerous turn: Cifaldi slipped and impaled himself on his trekking pole as he fell.

David Cifaldi and his two hiking companions were crossing Montana's ominous Froze-to-Death Plateau and approaching the top of the state's highest peak when their adventure took a bizarre and dangerous turn: Cifaldi slipped and impaled himself on his trekking pole as he fell.

David Cifaldi was approaching the top of Montana’s highest peak with two friends when their hiking adventure took a dangerous turn: Cifaldi slipped and impaled himself on his trekking pole

3 min readJul 30, 2026 10:46 AM IST David Cifaldi was impaled by a trekking pole after falling near the summit of Granite Peak in Montana. (Photo/Go Fund Me)David Cifaldi was hiking Montana’s tallest mountain on July 20 with two of his friends when he slipped on a rock after nearly seven hours on the trail. The first t

Man hikes 6 hours after impaling himself with hiking pole  CNN

In an incredible display of resilience, a nurse endured a life-threatening injury on Granite Peak in Montana. With a pole piercing his side, he bravely trekked over ten miles down the treacherous terrain. Relying on his medical expertise, he evaluated his injuries and chose to make the strenuous descent, aided by his f

David Cifaldi was scaling Montana's tallest mountain with his two friends when he lost his footing on the rocky terrain and as he fell his trekking pole penetrated his body

David Cifaldi was hiking up Granite Peak, Montana’s tallest mountain, last week when he slipped and fell on one of his trekking poles. A wound nurse, he went into survival mode.