Point Reyes Light - April 22, 1999
Helicopter rescues pair of climbers above nude beach
A pair of barefoot climbers were plucked Sunday from the cliffs above Red Rock beach by a Sonoma County Sheriff's helicopter after they got stuck trying to climb up to Highway 1.
Perched almost 100 feet above the beach, the men signaled a National Park Service boat patrolling the waters off Stinson Beach when they realized they could no longer climb up or down, said Stinson Beach assistant fire chief Aaron Jarvis.
With the help of county and local firefighters, Jarvis was tied to a guardrail and lowered down to the two men only to discover a third man - this one wearing shoes - stuck about 50 feet below them, he said.
Jarvis said he secured the first two climbers with rope then lowered himself to the third man, whom he carried down to the beach. Climbers frequently get stuck climbing the cliffs near clothing-optional Red Rock beach, he said.
"It's a place where we train a lot because it's an area where people get stuck," he said. "It gets real steep, and when they realize it's too steep to go up anymore, they realize it's too steep to get back down."
Before Jarvis could ascend the cliffs to return to the barefoot climbers, a Sonoma County Sheriff's Department helicopter arrived to perform a long-line rescue by dangling a deputy from a 150-foot rope over the cliff.
The deputy placed collars around Oscar Ramirez, 25, and Juan Gonzalez, 27, and the two Oakland men were returned unharmed to the south end of Stinson Beach, said Sgt. Robert Pacheco.