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CLATSOP COUNTY, Ore. — A weekend hike that could have been tragic had a happy ending on Saturday after rescuers rappelled down a ridge at Saddle Mountain State Park to rescue a hiker stranded 40 feet up on a “knife-edge” ridge.
Cannon Beach Fire crews, along with Gearhart and Hamlet Volunteer Fire Departments and Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, responded to reports of a hiker stranded on a 3-foot-wide ridge at Saddle Mountain State Park on Nov. 29, around 2 p.m.
The hiker was found 1.5 miles up the trail, 40 feet up, and the U.S. Coast Guard attempted a helicopter rescue from the ridge but aborted the mission due to poor visibility.
In a complex operation involving 13 personnel, crews from Cannon Beach Fire’s Rope Rescue Team, using a high-angle rope, then ascended 250 feet up from the hiker’s location and secured a rope anchor to a large boulder.
A rescuer rappelled down to the hiker, secured him with a harness, and lowered him to safety at 8:20 p.m.
The hiker was assessed and treated at the scene, but no specific injuries were reported.
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