A Hiker Was Rescued from a Knife-Edge Ridge in Oregon. Here Are the Photos.

A hiker is home safe after what lifesaving officials are calling an “elaborate and risky” rescue mission. While attempting to descend Oregon’s Saddle Mountain, a prominent coastal peak located about 70 miles west of Portland, the hiker found himself stuck on a three-foot-wide knife–like ridge on November 29.

The incident kicked off a major rescue mission, which was chronicled by the Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District (CBRFPD) on its Facebook page.

Rescuers deployed a high-angle rescue 250 feet above the hiker, securing a rope anchor to a large boulder before rappelling down the cliff face to the stranded man.

In all, the man spent seven hours on the rocky fin, located on the slopes of a mountain near Cannon Beach, Oregon.

According to the CBRFPD report, the man’s SOS came in at approximately 2 P.M., and the call triggered responses from two local fire departments and the sheriff’s department.

The trail to the summit of Saddle Mountain, which has an elevation of nearly 3,300 feet, “is steep and difficult in spots, with a 1,634-foot rise in elevation over 2.4 miles,” according to Oregon State Parks. Responders found the man a mile and a half up the trail, stranded 40 feet off the ground on a three-foot-wide ridge on the southern slopes of the mountain.

The hiker was not anywhere near the trail and had scrambled out onto a rock fin, from which he was unable to return.

“The incident commander quickly realized they were dealing with a high-angle rescue,” the CBRFPD wrote, “and requested the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Astoria and additional fire personnel.”

A high-angle rescue is one performed on an extremely steep or near-vertical face, typically 60 degrees or more. High-angle rescues involve ropes, anchor systems, and other technical climbing and rappelling equipment, and both the victim and rescuer rely on these systems to avoid death or injury.

A Coast Guard helicopter arrived at the site shortly after 5:00 P.M., but poor visibility and descending cloud cover led the chopper to abandon its plan for an aerial extraction.

“This forced rescue personnel to execute their alternate plan, which required an elaborate and risky rope rescue operation,” said the CBRFPD.

The complex rescue operation that ensued saw firefighters climb some 250 feet above the stranded hiker and set up a rope anchor on a large boulder. Using this anchor system, “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,” said the CBRFPD. One rescuer reached the hiker, attached him to a harness, and lowered him safely 40 feet to the ground below. The hiker was then escorted 1.5 miles back down to the trailhead.

All rescue personnel were safely back to the parking lot just after 8 P.M. In total, CBRFPD said the rescue mission lasted nearly seven hours and involved 13 fire and search-and-rescue personnel from three departments, as well as the Coast Guard helicopter.

“We would like to take the time to remind everyone that when going for a hike, please stay on the main trail and remember to bring the ten essentials,” wrote the CBRFPD in their post.