Hiker suffers multiple injuries while slipping down waterfall, NC rescuers say

A hiker suffered multiple injuries while tumbling down one of western North Carolina’s remote waterfalls, according to rescuers.

The incident happened Wednesday in the 512,758-acre Pisgah National Forest, which is well known for having more than a dozen scenic waterfalls.

“Earlier today we were dispatched ... for a subject that had taken an unintended slide down a low-angle waterfall, sustaining multiple injuries,” Linville-Central Rescue Squad wrote in an April 15 social media post.

“The patient was stabilized and packaged in the litter, then raised back up the waterfall’s edge and carried to the waiting ambulance.”

The hiker is expected to recover, officials said.

Boulders surrounding waterfalls in the National Forest are wet and notoriously slippery, experts say. The name of the waterfall involved in the incident was not released.

Multiple agencies joined the rescue operation, including Avery County EMS, Avery County Emergency Management and the Linville Volunteer Fire Department, officials said.

Avery County is about a 115-mile drive northwest from uptown Charlotte.