More than eight hours on a rock shelf about as wide as the length of a dollar bill ended just before 1am on Sunday for a California climber who'd gone off-route high in the Sierra Nevada. Authorities say the unnamed man and a friend were ascending Mendenhall Couloir on Laurel Mountain—an often-vertical climb typically performed without ropes—when he veered from the established red-rock path and wound up marooned on a 6-inch ledge at about 10,600 feet, per the New York Times. The climber then realized, "I am completely stuck, and if I try to go down and I slip, I'm going to die," says Mitch Quiring, spokesman for Mono County's Search and Rescue Team, per the Desert Sun.
High winds ruled out a helicopter hoist, forcing Mono County's Search and Rescue volunteers into a more complex plan. After being dropped off on the mountain, rescuers spent more than two hours trying to locate the man, stymied by imprecise GPS data and shouts that echoed in the gully "like being in a hallway of mirrors," as Quiring put it to the Times. As daylight faded and temperatures fell, four rescuers rigged bolts and ropes in the dark to reach the visibly exhausted climber, who'd been shifting from foot to foot to keep from cramping.
The team ultimately guided him to the summit ridge, after which they descended until they met up with an off-road vehicle that took them off the mountain, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. "He did not give up," says Quiring, per the Times, adding that the outcome could have been "very different" if he had. Quiring also advises that "the easiest thing a group of people can do to reduce their risk of emergency is staying together," per the Chronicle. Check out more pics from the risky rescue here.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
