Two quick-thinking hikers helped save a woman after she slipped near the edge of a rock face and became stranded on a ledge in Yosemite National Park.
Brian Moran and his son, Ian, were completing their Half Dome hike on October 12 shortly after 2 p.m. when they heard a woman scream.
Witnesses said the woman lost her footing near the lower section of the cables and slid down the granite slope, according to SFGATE.
As she cried out and waved her arms, she tried to flatten her body against the rock to slow her descent while rapidly picking up speed.
She appeared to be heading toward a sheer drop, leaving Brian and Ian fearing the worst as strong winds began to sweep across the mountain.
“I was just shouting, ‘No, no, no!’ because I knew she was dead,” Brian Moran told SFGATE.
“And then she stopped, and I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.
The woman managed to catch hold of the rock, but the scene quickly became frantic. The Morans and other witnesses said they began crying because they believed she was moments from falling to her death.
Two quick-thinking hikers helped rescue a woman after she slipped and became trapped on a Yosemite ledge
Witnesses said the woman slid down the rock face after losing her footing near the lower section of the cables
Rather than freeze in the chaos, 20-year-old Ian quickly began working out how to reach her.
He scrambled up the cliff as his father and other onlookers watched him attempt the dangerous rescue.
“Hey, slow down, don’t put yourself at risk,” Brian called out. “That doesn’t help anything,” he shouted, according to SFGATE.
At the same time, the woman’s fiancé climbed toward her from above.
But he soon lost his balance and ended up pressed against the mountainside, clinging to a narrow ledge with only his fingertips.
When Ian reached the pair, he urged them to remain calm and assured them that help was coming. He could see, however, that the fiancé was quickly losing his grip.
The Morans had left their newly purchased rope, gloves and carabiners at their campsite during the hurried start to their hike.
Ian realized that his sticky climbing shoes alone would not allow him to reach the couple safely. He therefore instructed a bystander to call emergency services.
Ian climbed toward the stranded couple as his father and other hikers watched the rescue unfold
Ian encouraged the couple to stay calm after reaching them, though he saw that the fiancé was rapidly losing his grip (stock image)
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US Air Force veteran David Morgenstern arrived moments later and began directing the rescue effort
About 10 tense minutes later, two hikers arrived with a rope and joined the rescue effort.
Ian and the hikers searched for nylon-like fabric as they tried to connect a makeshift harness to a pole.
They also gathered carabiners and slings that other climbers had used to secure their harnesses to the cables.
Soon afterward, US Air Force veteran David Morgenstern reached the rock and began providing safety instructions.
Morgenstern used two carabiners and a sling to anchor and lower the equipment line, while assigning another rescuer to stabilize the pole from the ground.
He inspected the knots linking the carabiners as Brian and other hikers positioned themselves along the chain.
Ian volunteered for the most perilous part of the operation. He slid down the steep rock, bracing himself with his right hand while reaching toward the stranded man with his left.
Terrified witnesses watched as one woman prayed aloud. Ian eventually seized the man’s hand and pulled him to safety.
After helping rescue the woman, Morgenstern called 911 and reported that the emergency had been resolved
Although Ian had returned to solid ground, the rescue was far from over.
He immediately joined the human chain to reach the woman, who remained stranded farther down the slope.
The group realized it needed more equipment and hurried to find another sling and additional carabiners while calling down to reassure her.
When the chain still could not reach her, Morgenstern proposed connecting the climbers’ harnesses to extend the line.
Looking back on the improvised system, Morgenstern joked that he hoped MacGyver would approve of their resourceful solution.
“I’ll go down to get her, if you’re OK with that,” Morgenstern asked Ian. Ian agreed.
“My confidence level in my ability to get her, backed by the team, was higher than my confidence in her ability to safely stay where she was, especially with the wind picking up,” Morgenstern told SFGATE.
He secured the harness, formed a seven-man chain and told the woman to remain calm as he carefully helped her up the rock. Light snow had begun to fall.
Morgenstern brought the woman to safety, then called 911 to report that the emergency had been resolved.
Our News Outlet contacted a Yosemite parks spokesperson for additional comment.
