Ice cave teens undergo sugery for broken backs

Two teenage boys rescued after an ice cave collapsed on them in Washington's Cascade Mountains underwent surgery for broken backs and other injuries Friday.

Alec Corbett, 17, was upgraded from serious to satisfactory condition, his family said in a statement released by Harborview Medical Center. His neighbor in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood, Alessandro Gelmini, 14, remained in serious condition. In addition to a broken back, he suffered facial fractures and a broken ankle, his family said.

The boys were hiking with their mothers and their sisters Thursday two miles up a trail in the Denny Creek area, 50 miles east of Seattle, when they wandered into the mouth of the ice cave. With a deafening crack, a 50-foot swath of the cave's roof crashed down on them.

"I don't think there's anybody who thought we were going to bring out two live, talking patients," said Eastside Fire and Rescue Lt. Dean deAlteriis.

Nearby hikers rushed to help as one boy's mother called 911. Marilyn Pyke, of Graham, was leading a youth group outing; she said she and others tried to use sticks to chisel away at the ice, but stopped after realizing how unstable the snow was.

When rescuers arrived, they used a chainsaw to slice away 1-foot cubes of ice, and they could eventually hear the boys yelling. The boys spent about five hours "pancaked" by at least six feet of ice, deAlteriis said.

A Navy helicopter flew them to the hospital Thursday night.

The ice cave was in a ravine bordered by sheer rock walls on either side. The ravine had filled with snow, and a small creek, or cascade of melted snow, had carved out a cave, with a roof of compacted snow and ice. The boys were several yards inside the mouth of the cave when it collapsed. It had likely been weakened by recent rain and warm weather.

The chainsaw that proved so invaluable during the rescue was nearly an afterthought, deAlteriis said. As rescuers headed to the ravine, one called out, "Hey, let's take a chainsaw." The idea was that they might need it to cut trees for purposes of shoring up a wall of the ice cave or a trench.

"Without that chainsaw, different story," he said, shaking his head.

In their statements, the families thanked rescuers and other hikers who "risked their lives" to help.

"God is good, and we have our boys back," the Gelminis wrote.