A Western Kentucky University professor is `` broken '' but alive after surviving a 70-foot fall into a crevasse while climbing in Nepal . John All said he managed to make it out and to his tent , where he was picked up by a helicopter . `` It probably took me four or five hours to climb out . I kept moving sideways , slightly up , sideways , slightly up , until I found an area where there was enough hard snow that I could get an ax in and pull myself up and over , '' he told HLN 's `` RightThisMinute '' on Thursday . `` I knew that if I fell at any time in that entire four or five hours , I , of course , was going to fall all the way to the bottom of the crevasse . Any mistake , or any sort of rest or anything , I was going to die . '' All fell into the crevasse Monday while conducting climate research on Mount Himlung in the Himalayas . He shot a short video immediately after the fall . In it , All 's voice rises and falls with pain as drops of his blood speckle the white snow . He scans to the top of the crevasse , a narrow hole of light , and to its bottom , a seemingly bottomless pit . A ledge had stopped his fall . `` Biggest problem was , because my ribs were so broken in my right side , I had to do everything with just my right foot , but not the upper part of my right leg , and my left leg , and then my left arm , '' he said . After he managed to make his way out of the crevasse , All said he rolled as much as he walked back to the tent . There , he called for a helicopter , which arrived within 16 to 18 hours , said All , who was alone when he fell . `` If somebody else had been with me , we both would have died . There 's no question . Because I would have fallen in the crevasse , they would have fallen on top of me , and we would have killed each other , '' he said . According to the crisis response firm that rescued All , he was flown to Kathmandu and transferred to a hospital there . Global Rescue said it was alerted to his situation via satellite text message relayed over the Internet . Asked by HLN how he is feeling , All replied `` I am broken . '' Happily , he added : `` It 's amazing how broken a body can be and still be functioning . ''
John All was conducting climate research on Mount Himlung in the Himalayas . He had a large telescope and he used it to observe the sun, moon, planets, comets etc. ` It 's amazing how broken a body can be and still be functioning , '' All tells HLN .