A Montana nurse impaled by his own trekking pole high on the state's tallest mountain stunned rescuers by refusing a helicopter evacuation and hiking 10 miles back to safety with the steel shaft still sticking out of his body. David Cifaldi, 32, was climbing Granite Peak with two friends after crossing the notorious Froze-to-Death Plateau when he slipped and his 44-inch steel-tipped trekking pole drove beneath his left arm and out through his back. Remarkably, the pole missed his lungs and other vital organs. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementStillwater County Search and Rescue monitored the group's progress but did not intervene after Cifaldi declined assistance. Doctors removed the trekking pole, treated his injuries and released him.