Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 28

Firefighter Will Roper Rescues Climber Stranded 260 Feet Up Georgia's Mount Yonah

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 28

Firefighter Will Roper Rescues Climber Stranded 260 Feet Up Georgia's Mount Yonah

Q: How did a single wrong turn leave an experienced climber trapped on a 20-inch ledge hundreds of feet in the air?

A single wrong route on Mount Yonah’s west face can quickly turn an experienced climb into a dead end because the granite wall is steep, exposed and broken up by many similar-looking lines. Rescuers said the climber knew the mountain, but after choosing the wrong line while free climbing, he reached terrain where he could neither continue upward nor safely reverse course. That face is not a simple hiking path. Local climbing sources describe Mount Yonah as a major climbing area with dozens of routes on the main face and hundreds across the mountain. Some sections are near-vertical, while others are lower-angle slabs with few secure handholds or footholds. On that kind of terrain, a small navigation error can funnel a climber onto rock that is harder, more exposed or lacks an escape option. Will Roper, the firefighter who reached him, said the climber was about 40 to 50 feet below the top on a tiny 20-by-20-inch ledge, with no safe exit. Coverage also noted he appeared to be lightly equipped for that terrain, wearing sneakers and carrying a heavy backpack rather than technical climbing gear. Without a rope, protection or the exact route knowledge needed for the scramble, he had little margin for error once he got off line. Roper said trying to push on or downclimb likely could have ended in catastrophic injury. The climber instead called 911, and crews used a drone to locate him before rescuers rappelled in and got him out.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 28

A free climber who called 911 after getting stuck on Mount Yonah’s west face was pulled to safety Tuesday after ending up on a 20-inch-by-20-inch ledge about 260 feet up.
Will Roper, a White County firefighter, rappelled down beneath the man, secured him in a harness and clipped him to a rope before crews hoisted the climber back to the top.
White County officials said a drone first located the stranded climber, who told rescuers he knew the mountain but had chosen the wrong route and could neither climb up nor down safely.
The rescue on the 3,166-foot North Georgia ridge took about 42 minutes, and Roper said it was his first live mountain rescue despite prior technical training exercises.