A rock climber survived two days perched behind a roar California cascade before being rescued earlier this week, authorities said.
The climber, identified as Ryan Wardwell, 46, of Long Beach, California, was reported as disappeared by the family on Monday. He could not return to his vehicle on Sunday night after an attempt to rappel a waterfall in the Kern River’s tea cups, said the Sheriff’s office of Tulare County in a statement on Wednesday.
When the first to respond came to the area in the National Forest Sequoia on Monday, it was getting dark, and they could only find a possible location for the climber using infrared technology, said the Sheriff’s office.
On Tuesday morning, the fastest waters diving and rescue teams used a drone that located Wardwell in approximately the same place, in an apparent cavity behind the waterfall.
“Wardwell was found alive and receptive,” said the Sheriff’s office. “He told the deputies that he had left their rappell lines and was trapped behind the waterfall due to the extreme hydraulic of the river.”
He was reviewed on the scene and released to the family on Tuesday after his rescue, said the office.
Deputy Craig Douglas made the rescue with the help of colleagues and a team aboard a helicopter of the California road patrol, he said.
“They were able to get off perfectly just by their side,” Douglas said in an interview on Friday. “I could put it in a recovery suit, connect it, take it back to the helicopter.”
Wardwell probably suffered hypothermia, said the deputy.
“It was quite extremely cold,” Douglas said.
The temperatures were at the 60s on Tuesday morning in Ponderosa, a community about 6 miles north of seven cups of tea. The northern bifurcation of the Kern River can also run cold, since it is usually feed on the Sierra Nevada Winter Snow layer.
The authorities said Wardwell had raised the function previously, but warned that it can be an independent danger.
Sheriff’s captain Kevin Kemmerling told NBC affiliate, Ksee de Fresno, that Wardwell traveled to the waterfall with a group of friends and colleagues who decided to retire after determining the rappel would be too dangerous. He continued alone, the captain said to the station.
He pointed out that three people drowned approximately in the same place in August 2024.
The Sheriff’s office said river visitors must “always be aware of their surroundings and capabilities, especially when navigating white water.”
