POWELL COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Rescue crews used a helicopter to rescue four people who were stranded atop the Courthouse Rock in the Red River Gorge on Monday.
The helicopter managed to land on the small space atop the rock as snow continued to fall. A helicopter rescue atop a rock at the gorge is extremely rare, according to Powell County Search and Rescue.
The 4 were students at Asbury University who were camping. Tyler Wilson, a Junior at Asbury, said they didn't expect much snow based on the forecast.
They climbed up without ropes on Sunday. By Monday morning, it was too snowy to descend safely, he said.
Search and rescue teams initially hiked to the site but realized due to the snow, it would be too dangerous to try and climb up, according to Powell County Search and Rescue’s Jeremy Urekew,
That’s when they called KSP, who used their helicopter - completing the rescuing around 2 in the afternoon. Each of the students was evaluated and told LEX 18 that they were cold but okay.
“Anytime you have to hike in [at a rescue] it's difficult, but when it is 15 degrees and snowy, it ups the ante a lot more,” Urekew said.
Asked about the student’s explanation that they didn't know about the incoming snow from the forecast they looked at, Urekew said that can often be the case, explaining forecasts can often be misleading in the area.
“I don’t think I totally fault anybody,” he said. “Obviously, a level of preparedness matters when you are going into the woods.”
At the same time, he said getting down off the rock is very technical, even for experienced climbers with proper ropes/gear. The students brought no ropes with them.
“I’m assuming after all this they have learned a very valuable lesson about camping in the winter months.”
Crews considered using a hoist, which is more dangerous, before realizing they could directly land. Despite how rare landing on a rock is, were told it was not very difficult for the pilots.
Redstar Wilderness EMS and Wolfe County Search and Rescue assisted with the effort, according to KSP.
