A backpacker swept through the Yosemite Inner Gorge in May 2014 stopped on a boulder above another waterfall. Read the documented helicopter rescue.
The backpacker was lying on a boulder inside Yosemite’s Inner Gorge. His friends could see him. Reaching him across the water was another matter.
On May 28, 2014, a party of four had been near the base of Upper Yosemite Fall when one member slipped while moving over wet rock slabs. Fortunately, another member saw him fall.
The current carried him through more than a hundred feet of powerful whitewater. He managed to pull himself onto a boulder before the water continued over another drop.
In its account of the Yosemite Inner Gorge rescue, the National Park Service described the downstream plunge as one he would not have survived.
Yosemite Inner Gorge: A visible person in an inaccessible place
The emergency call reached dispatchers at approximately 11:45 a.m. Two rangers arrived about forty-five minutes later, and the friends guided them to a position where they could see the stranded man.
He was below a sequence of cascades in whitewater classified in the report as Class V-plus. The same wet, steep terrain that had contributed to the accident now complicated any rope-based rescue.
Time mattered. Even without an obvious major injury, a soaked person waiting in that setting faced continued heat loss. A long technical extraction could make his condition worse.
Responders prepared two approaches. Additional rescuers began bringing rope equipment toward the gorge while the park helicopter checked whether a short-haul operation was possible.
Strong, gusting winds around the falls could have ruled that option out.
The way off the rock
The pilot determined that the flight could be made safely. The helicopter returned to Ahwahnee Meadow, collected a rescue attendant and carried that rescuer to the man’s location.
Once on the boulder, the attendant disconnected from the line and fitted the patient into a harness. The aircraft returned and lifted both people out of the gorge.
The backpacker was taken to an ambulance, treated for hypothermia and released. The park reported no other injuries.
The result was remarkably good for an incident whose margin had been so narrow. The rock that stopped his movement was also a place he could not independently leave. His friends’ ability to see him established where help was needed, but did not provide the means to reach him.
The helicopter had provided a way across the water that had trapped him. Until its crew could complete the operation, the boulder remained his only secure place above the next fall.
Sources and reporting
Researched reporting: an original narrative based on the published records linked below.
