Pacific Crest Trail Hiker Clings to Cliffside as She Waits for Rescue

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A hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) clung to the side of a steep cliff for over an hour as she waited for rescue. The hiker was in the Whitewater area of the PCT when found herself stuck on the cliff and used her emergency-communications device to call for aid. Meanwhile, she held on for dear life and tried to keep her footing. By the time the rescue helicopter arrived, the woman’s arms and legs were visibly shaking from the effort of holding on (and likely also from the adrenaline).

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Even after the rescue team arrived, it wasn’t an easy ordeal. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit shared body-cam footage of the dramatic rescue to its Instagram page. Many people chimed in to say that the video had them holding their breath.

“As you can see, this was an intense, technical rescue,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit wrote in its social-media post. “Due to her very precarious spot, which she was exhausted from that position for over an hour, and with a heavy pack with unsure footing, the rescue specialist determined the safest option was to bear hug her and climb to the top. He just could not risk asking her to lift her arms, that she was clearly death gripping the cliff with, in order to place a rescue strap on.”

See the rescue of a stuck hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail here:

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