Last weekend a British climber and his climbing partner became stuck on the 3790-foot mountain in Scotland known as the Lochnagar. Roughly 300 feet above solid ground, the
lead climber found himself completely stuck on a climb known as the Giant's Head Chimney, unable to move up or down and with no ledge or space to rest on. Fortunately the second climber was able to find a safe ledge and was able to make a call for help. It would be six hours before the two climbers would be rescued, with the stuck climber clinging to the rock by his fingertips for the entire time.Rescue co-ordinator Inspector Andrew Todd said: "The lead climber had just climbed himself into difficulty and couldn't go forwards or backwards. He was completely stuck.
"The conditions were absolutely freezing although the visibility was good and the helicopter was a big help.
"The bottom climber was fine and was quite warm but the lead climber was in quite a difficult position and had to hold that position for hours. He was literally just hanging on to the cliff face."
One of the rescuers was lowered from a helicopter who helped the pair back to the bottom.
The lead climber suffered mild frostbite to his fingers after his ordeal in temperatures as low as -8C on the cliff face.
Jeff
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