Cliffhanger Cooperation

A 17-year-old runaway climbed over a fence and slid 50 feet to a ledge on a 200-foot cliff, where he was rescued by Crag Rats members, with a whole lot of help. The two-hour drama happened in the north side yard of Max and Karen Peterson, 3730 Westcliff Dr., about 300 yards east of exit 62.

This article updates the hoodrivernews.com online report posted Nov. 14.

Crag Rats employed many of the same teamwork and roping techniques they practiced on another cliff edge last spring. Instead of a training dummy, the rescuers had a 150-pound live person to retrieve from a rocky face. Thursday’s emergency was a situation very similar to the drill they worked on near the Mosier Tunnels trailhead in May.

This time, the basalt edge was woodier, rougher, and definitely colder.

While other firefighters and law enforcement officers were busy responding to road incidents, a team of close to 30 people worked to pull to safety the victim, Bradley (not his real name).

He clung to a 3-by-3 foot muddy ledge and, despite the cold and falling snow, initially refused help in getting back up, according to Hood River Police Officer Sal Rivera, who chased the youth about 400 yards through the woods before Bradley climbed over the Petersons’ fence and tried to scale down the cliff.

“He told me he had tried to skid down the hillside and then noticed it was a 200-foot drop and he told me he was just grabbing onto branches,” Rivera said.

Bradley was taken to Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital after his rescue, and was well enough to be transported to NORCOR on outstanding felony warrants, according to Rivera.

Crag Rat Christopher Van Tilburg roped up and went down to secure Bradley and help him to safety, with a large team on the cliff top pulling the belay.

“The first job is to secure him safely and protect myself, and getting him secured safely,” said Van Tilburg. “We just saw him and went to work,” he said. “When I got to him I just said what any Crag Rat would: I introduced myself and said ‘we’re here to help you,’” said Van Tilburg, who is also a physician. He credited the entire Crag Rats cadre with the rescue, including Jim Wells, Jay Sherrerd, Penny Hunting, Meredith Martin and Ron Martin of Crag Rats. At this point, Bradley was cooperative.

Van Tilburg described Bradley’s roost as “mud and snow and grass with a slight incline, no more than about three feet wide.” From there, it was a 125-foot drop.

Mark Wiltz was the first Crag Rat on scene, after Rivera and reserve officer Brent Goe, and Sheriff’s Departmetn members. Crag Rat Walter Burkhardt oversaw rigging a “change of direction” rope apparatus to a tree 15 feet from the embankment, for both the security of the two people on the cliff’s side, and to protect the ropes themselves. Burkhardt, who had broken a rib the day before, climbed 10 feet up the tree to fasten the ropes and metal climbing securing devices known as carabiners.

Wiltz initially got a rope to Bradley and had him tie it around his waist, until Van Tilburg could get to him.

Wiltz said it appeared to be a loose “granny knot” that would not have held him. “Tie the two ends like you’re tying a shoelace,” Wiltz said at one point. “Are you warm enough down there?” (Bradley wore a parka and pants, and had a hat, but Van Tilburg said he clearly was feeling the cold.)

“Chris is going to come down and help you get that harness on. You have to pay attention to what he says, you’re kind of in a bad situation, and he wants to help you,” Lt. Pat Shortt of Oregon State Police called down to Bradley.

Van Tilburg put his radio on Oregon SAR (Search and Rescue) before descending. He secured a second rope around Bradley, in addition to the one supporting himself, and then got Bradley into a harness supporting for pulling him up. With Tribal Fisheries officers Jerrod Daniels and Larry Risley and Ron Martin anchoring the belay line, four firefighters, Rivera and Goe, Crag Rats and others pulled on the harness rope, five feet at a time, pausing several times when either the rope or the harness got caught or twisted against the cliff.

Also helping were West Side Fire Department personnel John Beeman, Josh Beckner, David Dexter, Patrick Foss, Erik Nelson, Tom Oswald and Nathan Smith.

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The incident started before noon when the police got a call from the Westcliff business Charburger Restaurant about a youth who was soliciting a ride to Portland and had left the scene on foot, heading east. Rivera and Goe responded; they searched the area and didn’t see anything.

Rivera noticed fresh footprints along the road and followed them into the Columbia Cliffs condominiums just west of exit 62. Employees said they had seen a youth matching Bradley’s description cross the property just two minutes earlier, and Rivera and Goe found the footprints and followed them.

“We kept following the footprints and caught up to him in wooded area,” Rivera said. “He saw me and started running. I told him, ‘Stop.’ I didn’t know who he was or if he was the juvenile we were looking for, and I didn’t know what he was doing there, but when he kept running, I knew it was him.”

Rivera said they caught up to Bradley by the Petersons’ house, “and he jumped over the fence and went over.

“He was barely able to grab onto the rock ledge,” he said. “He didn’t want to come up, said he would rather jump, but we kept talking to him a little, and had neighbor call 911.” Sheriff Matt English, Undersheriff Brian Rockett and Deputy Jess Flem responded, and also negotiated with the reluctant Bradley.

“We finally convinced him that going down the cliff was not the best idea,” Rivera said. “We were able to calm him down and talk him into letting us go down with someone and try to get him out.

“He was remorseful, and pretty appreciative,” after taken into custody, Rivera said. “He was actually very pleasant with me. He realized where he was at wasn’t the best place.”

When Bradley was halfway up the cliff he told Van Tilburg he wanted a cigarette.

“Now’s not the time for a smoke, let’s just get you to the top,” Van Tilburg told him. When Bradley safely reached the top, he was allowed a few puffs on a cigarette, and then he was placed in handcuffs, the harness still on him.

“That was a first, on belay with a cigarette,” Hunting said.

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It took nearly a village to hoist a child.

In addition to the Crag Rats, responding agencies were Hood River Police, Hood River County Sheriff, Hood River Fire Department, Columbia River Intertribal Fisheries, Oregon State Patrol, and neighbors. A total of 22 people were on hand, providing equipment and support.