On Saturday, November 29th, at approximately 2pm, Cannon Beach Fire personnel in Oregon were dispatched to a report of a stranded hiker at the top of Saddle Mountain State Park. Gearhart Volunteer Fire Department, Hamlet Volunteer Fire Department, and Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue also responded.
Personnel arrived at the parking lot and began working up the trail at around 2:45pm, reaching the hiker at around 3:40pm 1.5 miles up from the trailhead. They found a male stranded about 40 feet up on a three-foot wide knife-edge ridge located on the south slope of Saddle Mountain. It quickly became clear that this would be a high-angle rescue, and a request for the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Astoria and additional fire personnel was placed.
The USCG arrived with a rescue helicopter at 5:15pm, beginning their rescue attempt. Unfortunately the reduced visibility and a quickly lowering crowd rescue forced the crew to abort further rescue attempts, leading to an alternate plan for an elaborate and risky rope rescue operation.
“Firefighters had to ascend 250’ above the victim and secure a rope anchor to a large boulder. A rescuer then rappelled down the cliff-face onto the knife-edge ridge, secured another rope anchor, and then carefully navigated around the tall rock pinnacle to reach the victim. The rescuer then secured the victim with a harness, rigged a lowering device, and lowered the victim down the 40’ rock face to awaiting personnel where the victim was assessed and treated. The victim was then assisted back down the mountain to the parking lot.” – Cannon Beach Fire
All rescue personnel had returned back to the parking lot by 8:20pm, leading to a ~6.5 hour operation that required 13 Fire and SAR personnel as well as the U.S. Coast Guard.
