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Two climbers in California stranded on a steep Big Sur cliffside Saturday found themselves 600 feet below the roadway with a California Highway Patrol (CHP) helicopter crew their only way out.
Video released by the CHP shows the H-70 helicopter hovering above a steep ravine near Hurricane Point as a rescue technician is lowered on a cable to reach the trapped pair.
Big Sur Fire requested help from CHP’s Paso Robles Air Unit at about 6:24 p.m., according to the agency.
A CHP helicopter rescue technician prepares for a high-risk hoist during the Big Sur cliffside rescue alongthe California coast. (CHP – Coastal Division Air Operations)
The terrain was so steep that the technician could not safely disconnect from the hoist hook after reaching the first climber. Instead, he secured the climber in a Pelican rescue harness and the two were lifted together to rescue personnel waiting at a staging area.
The helicopter then returned to the ravine and carried out the same technical maneuver to bring the second climber to safety.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter rescue technician works to secure a stranded climber during a technical hoist operation near Hurricane Point. (CHP – Coastal Division Air Operations)
CHP did not release the climbers’ names or explain how they became stranded.
Social media users praised the CHP air crew and the rescue teams involved after video of the operation was posted online.
“Incredible rescue!! Well done guys!!” one commenter wrote. Another called it an “amazing job by all involved,” while another added, “Just incredible, you guys, thanks for what you do!”
Both climbers survived the ordeal, authorities said.
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CHP helicopter lifts a climber and rescue technician above the Big Sur coastline during a hoist rescue. (CHP – Coastal Division Air Operations)
“These high-risk, low-frequency rescues are exactly what CHP Air Operations personnel continuously train for,” the agency said. “There is no room for error when operating in steep terrain, under hoist, and in challenging environmental conditions.”
The cliffside rescue followed two separate Aug. 9 rescue missions for the same H-70 crew.
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A CHP air crew hoists a stranded climber to safety during a rescue near Hurricane Point in Big Sur, Calif. (CHP – Coastal Division Air Operations)
The air unit first hoisted an injured 13-year-old hiker from Pinnacles National Park, working with a Paso Robles Fire Department helicopter rescue technician, CHP said.
Later that day, the crew pulled a person who suffered severe injuries in a fall from a waterfall in Big Sur Gorge to safety.
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H-70 then responded to another call in the remote Los Padres National Forest, where a hunter suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration was brought aboard using a hover step-on maneuver and flown to waiting medics in King City.