An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter crew hoisted two out-of-state climbers off Cathedral Rock on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 16 after one of them fell, Sedona Fire District Fire Chief Ed Mezulis said.
“Minor injuries are what one of the individuals reported,” Mezulis said. “The other climber was not hurt. It wasn’t clear how far the climber fell, but the pair were tied in with rope.”
SFD was dispatched at 1:16 p.m. and crews were on scene by 1:25 p.m. An Arizona Department of Public Safety Ranger helicopter, with a Sedona Fire helicopter rescue technician aboard, used a hoist to lift both climbers off the formation and bring them to waiting ambulances for evaluation. The operation ended at 3:43 p.m.
“It’s very technical anytime we use a helicopter,” Mezulis said. “Crews didn’t have to build rope systems, rappel or ascend to reach the pair.”
Flying near Cathedral Rock, one of Sedona’s most popular hikes, means working around crowds of visitors, he said.
“Anytime you’re operating a helicopter approach in close proximity to the rocks, there’s an inherent danger, and we always got to be concerned about weather,” Mezulis said.
He called the rescue a “bread-and-butter helicopter operation” for SFD’s helicopter rescue team, which trains with DPS under an intergovernmental agreement that keeps fire district technicians available for the state’s helicopter crews.
Mezulis did not know the climbers’ names or experience.
