A hiker was rescued after a 17-hour ordeal on a remote mountain top, during which he was stuck in a mountain fissure and hardly able to breathe.
Wilderness Search And Rescue (WSAR) teams comprised of professionals and volunteers rescued him on Wednesday, 28 December 2022.
Two hikers became lost in the Cederberg region near Nuwerust Farm. They chose to descend the mountain via a succession of chimneys, a mountaineering term for small chutes or fractures.
One of the hikers became trapped in a chimney on Tuesday afternoon and was unable to release himself.
After a sleepless night in the small chimney, the men were able to attract the attention of passing rock climbers, who then alerted local rescue personnel.
The Western Cape Department of Health EMS / Air Mercy Service (AMS) rescue helicopter transported a WSAR team to the Cederberg to aid two hikers who had become stranded on a lonely peak.
The rescue squad had to abseil down to the hikers when they arrived on the site.
The team then evaluated the hiker who was stuck in the chimney before developing a complex rope system to aid in the hiker’s rescue.
One of the rescuers reported that the man could only stand on his toes at the bottom of the chimney because his chest was so restricted that he could only take little breaths.
WSAR teams hoisted him to the ledge above before the patients and team could be safely rescued by aircraft.
The patients were transported to a neighboring landing zone before being transferred to a waiting medical team.
»Hiker rescued after being stuck in a mountain crack for 17 hours«