Umatilla County Search & Rescue will screen "Where The Rope Ends" in five showings in April 2024 in Umatilla County.

UMATILLA COUNTY — “Be like water.”

Those words ran through rock climber Nichole Doane’s brain as she plunged toward a ledge.

Minutes earlier, Doane, a trauma nurse on a canyoneering adventure, had made a mistake that left her dangling and anticipating an unavoidable fall. She forced herself to calm her mind, relying on years of yoga training. This widened her visual field to include the ledge off to the side about 60 feet below — still far, but better than falling 100 feet to the forest floor. The skin on her hands tore as she slipped down the rope. In a Hail Mary, she shook off her fear, did a swing, let go of the rope and hurtled toward the ledge.

The single mom shot some psychic love to her then-15-year-old daughter and commanded herself to land on her feet, absorb the impact into her core, avoid hitting her head — and to relax.

“Be like water,” she said. “That was my motto of the moment.”

The documentary, “Where the Rope Ends,” reveals what happened next. This month, Umatilla County Search & Rescue will host several showings of the film that chronicles Doane’s 2017 misadventure, the dramatic search and rescue operation that plucked her battered body from behind a waterfall and her decision to be worthy of the gift she received from her rescuers.

As part of the screening, the local SAR unit will answer questions and show specialized rescue equipment at four locations: the Wildhorse Cineplex on April 23; Pendleton Center for the Arts on April 24, Hermiston Cinema on April 25 and 27 and Prodigal Son Brewery & Pub on April 26. Ticket proceeds will go to support Umatilla County Search & Rescue.

The fall

Doane, who works at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said she and her friends were more than halfway through a series of technical rappels of Wallace Falls, a picturesque 285-foot waterfall in Washington’s Skykomish River Valley. They planned to walk out after reaching the bottom. When Doane got into trouble and crash-landed on the ledge, her fellow rappellers, mostly other trauma nurses, converged to where she lay, dreading what they would find. Doane, conscious and breathing, lay draped across boulders and branches. She felt crushing chest pain and showed signs of a spinal cord injury.

Her friends used a radio beacon to find help. The rescue would be a technical one since Doane lay halfway down on the backside of a waterfall. The Snohomish County Search and Rescue unit agreed to come. While Doane’s friends hovered over her discussing the options, Doane decided to focus on the beauty of the setting rather than her predicament.

“Pain colored everything, but I lay in a beautiful forest under a 300-foot waterfall on a warm sunny day” she said. “Mist from the waterfall cooled my skin. I was surrounded by some of the most compassionate people I know.”

Finally, they heard the rhythmic whop-whop of helicopter blades increasing in volume as the craft sped their way.

“We’d been there for three hours not knowing if I would live or die,” she said. “They came rappelling out of the sky. They were just extraordinary.”

Doane survived the day, underwent surgery and spent months recuperating from a shattered pelvis and fractured spine. She spent some of her recuperation time sitting in her wheelchair at the edge of Puget Sound. Water, she said, gives her comfort.

The film

While still confined to a wheelchair, Doane met Baylee Sinner at a six-month yoga teacher training. Sinner, a freelance video director, was intrigued with Doane’s story and desire to give back to SAR organizations. The two decided to collaborate on a film, with Sinner acting as director and producer.

Doane and her canyoneer friends appear in the film. The original working title, “Be Like Water,” was eventually changed to “When the Rope Ends.” For Doane, the film is a way of expressing her gratitude to her rescuers.

After the accident, she visited the Snohomish SAR unit with gifts to say thank you. When all the members showed up at their hangar wearing their uniforms, Doane was stunned.

“It was incredible they would take time out of their day,” she remembers thinking. “They said, nobody ever does this. Nobody ever comes back to say thank you. We never hear from people.”

That was a revelation to Doane.

“They were so extraordinarily skilled and it was awesome to watch them work together. And I know just how much work and dedication it takes to be that good at what you do. They are amazing, amazing people.”

At the screenings

Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dwight Johnson will help answer questions after screenings of “When the Rope Ends.” The 40-year search-and-rescue veteran started as a volunteer. His passion and that of other members generally stems from a desire to help others and an interest in the outdoors.

He said ticket prices and itineraries at the showings of the film vary depending on location and food being served. Pendleton Center for the Arts, for example, will charge $30 and serve Sno Road wine and various cheeses while Wildhorse and Hermiston Cinema will charge $10 with option of a $40 VIP pass that entitles the purchaser to drink, popcorn and five raffle tickets. Prodigal Son will charge $20, which entitles viewer to 10% off entree and drink and five raffle tickets. Each event will start with SAR meet-and-greet sessions before the film and include a Q&A session and raffle drawings afterwards.

For complete times and details, go to shorturl.at/cMORS. Proceeds will go to the Umatilla County Search & Rescue Foundation, which helps provide equipment and training to the local unit.

Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dwight Johnson will help answer questions after screenings of “When the Rope Ends.” The 40-year search-and-rescue veteran started as a volunteer. His passion and that of other members generally stems from a desire to help others and an interest in the outdoors.

He said ticket prices and itineraries at the showings of the film vary depending on location and food being served. Pendleton Center for the Arts, for example, will charge $30 and serve Sno Road wine and various cheeses while Wildhorse and Hermiston Cinema will charge $10 with option of a $40 VIP pass that entitles the purchaser to drink, popcorn and five raffle tickets. Prodigal Son will charge $20, which entitles viewer to 10% off entree and drink and five raffle tickets. Each event will start with SAR meet-and-greet sessions before the film and include a Q&A session and raffle drawings afterwards.

For complete times and details, go to shorturl.at/cMORS. Proceeds will go to the Umatilla County Search & Rescue Foundation, which helps provide equipment and training to the local unit.