Helicopter hoists three hikers off 8,600-foot ridge in Sierra County
Rescuers used a winch to extract a group stranded near the summit of the Sierra Buttes on Sunday afternoon.
By Natalia Thornton ·
Three hikers were airlifted to safety on Sunday after becoming stranded on the steep slopes of the Sierra Buttes in Northern California. The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a helicopter crew used a hoist to lower a rescuer to the group and pull them off the mountainside.
The operation began at approximately 2:30 p.m. when a Garmin inReach satellite device sent a distress signal to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Authorities immediately dispatched search and rescue personnel. The Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Mountain Rescue Team and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office RAVEN helicopter unit joined the effort.
The group was located just south of a fire lookout tower near the mountain’s peak. Officials stated that the difficult terrain and hazardous location made a helicopter hoist necessary for the extraction. The three hikers were flown to a landing zone where Sierra County deputies were standing by.
The Sierra Buttes rise above the North Yuba River canyon. According to the Pacific Crest Trail Association, the mountain reaches approximately 8,600 feet in elevation. A fire lookout station sits near the top of the peak.
Authorities have not released information on how the hikers became stranded or if any of them sustained injuries. The sheriff’s office thanked the involved teams for their professionalism and coordination in completing the rescue.
The incident follows two other major mountain rescues in the region this month. Last week, a 39-year-old man from Florida was injured after falling through a snow bridge on the Whitney Glacier. Crews carried him to a landing zone after bad weather delayed an aerial extraction. Earlier in the month, a 19-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman from Salt Lake City were rescued after spending 36 hours trapped between cliffs on Mount Shasta. Both were uninjured.
Social media users praised the RAVEN helicopter team for its role in the rescue. One commenter noted that Sheriff Balaam’s decision to use the unit for assistance across the region showed its value. Another thanked the emergency special teams for their work in the community.
Source: Fox News
