A man walking on an Oregon beach tried to climb a nearby cliff — and found himself stranded nearly 100 feet up over the rocks below, sheriff’s officials reported.
The 41-year-old called 911 at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30, to report he couldn’t go up or down on the nearly sheer cliff, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
A dramatic video posted with the release shows the man stuck on the barren 300-foot cliff, nearly 200 feet below the rescuers who’d made their way to the top, near Lone Branch Beach and Brookings.
Deputies who responded exchanged photos with the man via phone to help pinpoint his location on the cliff, sheriff’s officials said. A rescuer also launched a drone to communicate with him over a speaker.
Fog prevented a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from assisting the man, so the sheriff’s search and rescue team “risked their lives” to lower him to safety, the release said.
With nothing to anchor a rope, they wrapped it around the “top edge of the rock bluff,” sheriff’s officials said. A rescuer rappelled down to the man and then they both descended to the beach.
The rescue took about five hours, the release said.
“It is amazing how they were able to safely get (the hiker) off the ledge he was on and back to safety,” Sheriff John Ward said in the release.
Brookings is a city of about 6,800 people on the Oregon coast just over the border with California.
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