Rock climbers used rappelling to help a resident on the fourth floor retrieve New Year goods that had fallen.
New Year goods bought just days ago fell to the ground—can’t eat what you can’t reach. What to do?
The day before yesterday, Ms. Yang, a resident living on the fourth floor of Unit 3, Building 39, Feicuiyuan Community, Huanggu District, was worried about this very issue.
Yesterday, two rock climbers learned about Ms. Yang’s predicament and decided to help her “rescue” the New Year goods.
New Year goods fell to the ground, owner checked on them seven times in one night
"On the noon of the 28th, I bought 10 pounds of lamb and 10 pounds of pork as New Year goods, but my fridge was already full, so I thought about putting the newly bought meat outside the window." Ms. Yang put the meat in a plastic bag, then tied the bag to the window handle and hung it outside.
"Before hanging it up, I tugged on it several times to make sure it was securely tied, afraid it might fall. But just after I hung it at noon, the New Year goods fell down by 5 p.m." Ms. Yang recalled that she was cooking at the time, and the sound of the goods hitting the roof of the second-floor shop startled her.
At around 1 p.m. yesterday, reporters visited Ms. Yang’s home and, through the study window, saw the New Year goods that had fallen onto the roof of the second-floor shop. The building where Ms. Yang lives faces the street; the first and second floors are commercial spaces, while the upper levels are residential. Currently, all the north-facing windows of the third-floor residents have installed non-opening security bars, making it impossible for people to exit through the windows, let alone retrieve the fallen goods.
"These New Year goods cost me over 400 yuan, and now I can only look at them but not eat them. It’s really frustrating!" This has been worrying Ms. Yang greatly. She didn’t sleep well that night, getting up every so often to check whether the goods were still there. She looked a total of seven times.
Neighbors’ suggestions and calling 119 didn’t work
Solution 1: Hook the goods back – Failed
Yesterday, Ms. Yang got up early and found a nearly 2-meter-long pipe. She went to her neighbor’s place on the third floor, hoping to hook the goods back. "The meat had spilled out of the bag, and there was no hook on the pipe anyway—it was simply impossible to get them back." Ms. Yang tried three times without success.
Solution 2: Knock the goods down – Failed
A neighbor suggested: "Since you can’t hook them back, why not use the pipe to knock the goods down?"
But there was a half-meter-high low wall on the street-facing side of the second-floor roof, preventing the goods from falling down past it. The neighbor’s solution didn’t work.
Solution 3: Call 119 – Failed
"Call 119—they have ladders." Another suggestion from a neighbor. Ms. Yang tried calling 119, hoping firefighters could help. But the staff said this was not within their scope of dispatch, and they couldn’t assist.
Solution 4: Seek help from firefighters – Failed
"There’s a fire station nearby, why not try asking them for help?" This was the third suggestion from the neighbor.
Ms. Yang went to the fire station, where the firefighters explained that dispatches must be coordinated by the central command and individuals can't request assistance on their own.
After a whole morning of effort, Ms. Yang still hadn’t retrieved the goods.
Solution 5: Rock climbers step in – Success
Left with no other options, the reporters tried contacting two rock climbers. Around 2 p.m., rock climbers nicknamed “Xiaowuge” and “Guzidi” arrived at Ms. Yang’s home with a 50-meter rope, carabiners, ascenders, figure-eight descenders, and more than ten other professional climbing tools. The pair formed a “rescue” team.
The “rescue” began. Guzidi tied the rope to the stairway railing. “Normally we would tie it to an iron heating pipe, but all the pipes in Ms. Yang’s home are plastic and not sturdy, so we chose the relatively solid metal railing to secure the rope.”
After securing the rope, Xiaowuge gripped it tightly with both hands, crouched halfway, and pushed backward to test its weight-bearing capacity. Once he confirmed it was safe, Xiaowuge tied one end of the rope to the figure-eight descender for rappelling, while Guzidi used tools to secure the other end around Xiaowuge’s body.
With preparations complete, Xiaowuge stood crouched on the windowsill, gripping the rope with both hands, then leaned backward. In less than a minute, he descended at a roughly 45-degree angle to the roof of the second floor.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Upon retrieving the New Year goods thrown down by Xiaowuge, an emotional Ms. Yang repeated her thanks four or five times. “Seeing the young man suddenly leap out of the fourth-floor window, all for my little bit of New Year goods—I felt moved, worried, and full of guilt.”
After safely “rescuing” the goods, Xiaowuge secured the rope to ascenders and other tools, using a flat rope as a foothold, and returned to Ms. Yang’s home. Without even drinking a sip of water, and amid Ms. Yang’s heartfelt thanks, the two packed up their gear and left.
(Note: This is the action of professionals. Do not imitate.)