Man Survives 75-Foot Plunge From Observation Deck

He allegedly stepped over railing in California
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2022 2:49 AM CST
Man Survives 75-Foot Plunge From Observation Deck
Stock photo.   (Getty Images / underworld111)

A man who allegedly climbed over the railing of an observation deck and fell 75 feet survived the incident. The man was seen near the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in California around 5:30pm Saturday; an employee of a restaurant at the Mt. San Jacinto summit saw him just before he slipped on hard ice and fell, the Los Angeles Times reports. He landed in an inaccessible area, and firefighters who responded rappelled down to him and lifted him from the steep terrain in a Stokes basket, a type of stretcher used in such situations.

He suffered only minor injuries and was evaluated for hypothermia, and after declining to be taken to a hospital, he and a companion rode the tramway back to its base. The 2.5-mile trip takes guests from the floor of the Coachella Valley in the Sonoran Desert to near the top of San Jacinto Peak, in an alpine forest 8,500 feet above sea level. It is not clear why the man allegedly climbed over the railing. "Our first priority is not the how it happened, but how a patient is doing during our rescue," a Riverside County Fire spokesperson says. Per SFGate, a spokesperson for the tramway says only, "People don’t normally jump the fence." (More California stories.)

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