Firefighter rappels down Mount Yonah to rescue stranded climber
Firefighters rappel down mountain to reach trapped climber
White County rescue crews launched a drone to locate a climber stranded 260 feet up the face of Yonah Mountain. Firefighters rappelled down to the ledge, attached a rescue harness and safety lines, and brought the caller to safety.
WHITE COUNTY, Ga. - A stranded climber was rescued from the west face of Mount Yonah on Tuesday and escaped the perilous situation uninjured.
What we know:
White County emergency crews responded to a 911 call just after 7 p.m. Tuesday after a person became stranded while free climbing Mount Yonah.
The caller was stuck on a 20-inch by 20-inch ledge with no safe exit route.
First responders deployed a drone that located the climber about 260 feet up the mountain face.
WATCH: Firefighter rescues climber from N. Georgia mountain
Emergency crews rescued a free climber stranded 260 feet up the west face of Mount Yonah Tuesday evening.
Firefighter Will Roper then rappelled down, secured the climber and brought them to safety. The entire rescue operation took approximately 42 minutes from arrival.
What they're saying:
Roper said the rescue was the first of his career on a mountain he's hiked and climbed several times himself.
"I've done a lot with dummies and a lot with other firefighters in training, but that's the first time that I've ever done it, kind of in the heat of the moment with a live subject," Roper said.
"It was a little nerve-racking going over the edge," he added.
Roper said that once he made his way down to the stranded climber, he was striking calm. Roper even joked with the climber, asking, "Have you been rescued before? You're pretty good at this."
He added that the climber had experience on Mount Yonah and had just picked the wrong line and gotten stuck. The climber was the person who called 911, initiating his own rescue.
Roper said that even though he feels terrible about the climber's predicament, he's grateful he got to put his technical training to good use.
"So I've been on kind of a high since then, just to have the first rescue, I haven't been successful and getting to do something that I really, really love to do, which is help people that are having a really bad day and be able to mix that with some of the technical training that I've had," Roper said.
What we don't know:
Officials have not released the identity of the rescued climber.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from White County Public Safety officials, who detailed the emergency response and successful rescue operation.