Dangling hiker clings to cliff and slips as California rescuers close in, video shows
Dramatic video from a helicopter in Southern California over the weekend captured a daring rescue as a hiker slipped down a crumbling cliff.
That hiker — who was ultimately brought to safety — was one of three emergency calls in the area that required rescue efforts along rocky trails in the hills north of Pasadena, according to deputies with the Altadena Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office.
Those who needed to be rescued included an injured 70-year-old woman who fell at the Eaton Canyon waterfall, a 24-year-old from Bellflower who was found nearby, and the 69-year-old Altadena woman shown in the video. She “was stranded on a cliff with the ground crumbling beneath her feet” in Rubio Canyon, according to the sheriff’s office.
The tense video of the third rescue was recorded around 4:30 p.m. as an older couple hiked in Rubio Canyon, according to FOX Los Angeles. “The woman had to be hoisted to safety after falling off the trail, clinging to some tree roots alongside the cliff,” according to the FOX station, which published video of the incident.
The TV station reports that “the hikers both refused medical treatment and appear to only have minor scrapes. After the rescue, the hikers hugged the rescue team and took some photos.”
According to CNN, “the Rubio Canyon Trail connects to paths to the summits of Mount Lowe and San Gabriel Peak” and is roughly a mile north of Eaton Canyon.
A helicopter rescue crew helped find and bring all the hikers to safety, deputies said — with emergency responders transporting the first two to a local hospital by ground ambulance, while the third “was flown to a safe location on the mountain where they were able to hike out on their own only sustaining minor scratches and scrapes from a short fall.”
