Climbers stranded overnight 160 feet high on Arizona cliff after their rope gets stuck
.jpg "Three climbers became trapped on the cliffside of Touched by an Angel in Sedona, Arizona, on Oct. 11, 2021, officials said. Rescuers provided the group with supplies, allowing them to descend the mountain themselves the following day.")
Three experienced climbers were stranded on a steep cliff in Arizona overnight after their rope became stuck, officials said.
Rescuers received a call Sunday around 6:20 p.m. that the climbers couldn’t descend the Touched by an Angel climbing area in Sedona, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
The group was 160 feet from the ground, deputies said.
They were descending the mountain from a multi-pitch climb when their rope got stuck and could not be retrieved, deputies said.
The jammed rope halted the climbers from rappelling vertically down the cliff face.
Rappelling requires specific gear and training.
It requires a person to slowly lower themselves on a “fixed rope with feet against the wall” using a belay device — a system that adds friction to stop a climber from falling, according to an REI rock climbing glossary.
Around midnight, rescuers in a helicopter learned they couldn’t reach the climbers because their hoist cable was not long enough, deputies said.
But the climbers, uninjured, said they could finish rappelling down the mountain if they could get more rope, food and water, deputies said.
Search and rescue lowered the supplies, including a radio, to the people around 3:30 a.m., deputies said.
When the sun rose, the climbers made their way down the mountain.
Medical care wasn’t needed for any of the people.
Sedona is about 29 miles south of Flagstaff.
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Climbers stranded overnight 160 feet high on Arizona cliff after their rope gets stuck."
