Tense video shows man clinging to 70-foot cliff before helicopter rescue in England

A nerve-wracking rescue was caught on video after a man got stuck clinging to the side of a more than 70-foot cliff in England while trying to climb it with a friend.

The climber and his friend were scaling Stair Hole, a small cove in Dorset county, on Nov. 7, when they realized it was too dangerous to continue, Her Majesty’s Coastguard said in a news release.

One man made his way back down, but the other became stuck on the muddy and slippery cliffside, unable to move up or down, according to officials.

Video shows the man with his feet on two rocks, wedging him to the cliff. The frame expands to reveal his position high up on the cliffside — about 70 feet off the ground, according to officials.

Rescue teams responded to the scene and used a helicopter to remove him from the precarious situation, the coastguard said. The helicopter was diverted from training exercises in North Devon.

Video shows a rescuer repelling from the helicopter and wrapping a harness around the climber before they’re both lifted from the slope onto even ground at the top of the cliff.

The man was “cold and visibly shocked,” but otherwise uninjured and paramedics sent him home, the coastguard said.

“The man was extremely lucky, one wrong footing and this could have had a very different outcome,” Matt West, duty controller for the coastguard, said. “Please don’t take unnecessary risks and know your limits while visiting the coast.”

Dorset county is on the southern coast of England.

This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Tense video shows man clinging to 70-foot cliff before helicopter rescue in England."