State park ranger falls 100 ft into a ravine during hiker rescue near Palm Springs Tram
An air rescue is lasted hours Thursday evening near the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway after a state ranger working on a hiker rescue fell 100 feet, officials said.
The incident started at around 6:35 p.m. when two people in their sixties were hiking on the Skyline Trail in the San Jacinto Mountain. The hikers ended up trapped on the trail due to the icy conditions, the State Park Incident Commander told News Channel 3 at the scene.
Two state park rangers went up the trail to rescue the hikers, however, while attempting to reach them, one of the rangers slipped on ice and fell 100 feet into a ravine, the commander said.
The ranger hurt his leg and was hoisted out of the area by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Rescue 9 helicopter shortly before 9 p.m.
The commander added that the other ranger and the hiker remained trapped on the trail due to weather conditions. Rangers called in additional personnel to help them get free.
State Rangers and the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit were on scene for hours.
An official with the Tram tells News Channel 3 that the trams opened as normal at 10:00 Friday morning. Services were not affected by the rescue operation.
