Five female hikers were climbing Mount Lao and had intended to take an off-trail shortcut, but two of them got stuck in a narrow gap on a lone cliff. After receiving the emergency call, rescue personnel from Liucui Police Station, Taiqing Police Station, and the Bashuihe Squad of the Mount Lao Fire Brigade quickly arrived at the scene. The police and firefighters first climbed up the cliff, then used ropes to pull the two hikers to safety. Fortunately, neither of the hikers was injured.
Trapped and fell into a rock crevice while lost
“Two of our companions have fallen into a mountain crevice. It’s very windy and cold here, please come and help us,” around 4 p.m. on February 11, the Laoshan Public Security Bureau received a distress call from Miss Li, who said that she and four others were hiking on Mount Lao. When they reached the Bashuihe area, they got lost. To make matters worse, two of the female hikers subsequently slipped into a crevice beside a cliff, putting them in a dangerous situation.
Based on Miss Li’s description, the police determined that the stranded hikers were likely located above the “Communist Youth League Forest” in the Bashuihe area. Around 4:20 p.m., officers from Liucui Police Station and Taiqing Police Station arrived at the road near the “Communist Youth League Forest.” Meanwhile, five firefighters from the Bashuihe Squad of the Mount Lao Fire Brigade also arrived at the scene at the same time. The rescuers found that the two women were stuck in a narrow crevice on the cliff, their bodies pressed tightly against the rock with almost no room to move, and the crevice was about 20 meters above the ground.
Rescuing the female hikers using ropes
“How are you holding up? Can you hang in there?” the rescuing police officers called out loudly. “Our feet are numb, we can’t move, it’s so cold,” one of the women replied.
The rescuers climbed up a small path and soon reached a vantage point above the crevice. “After assessing the situation, we realized we were about 1.5 meters above the crevice—quite close—but pulling them up directly by hand would be too risky, so we had to use ropes,” one of the police officers later told reporters.
The rescuers first lowered a fire rescue rope down to the crevice. One of the trapped women secured the rope around her waist. Once it was fastened, the rescuers began pulling the rope upward. Working together, they successfully pulled the first trapped woman to safety.
The second trapped female hiker was in an even more difficult situation, as the crevice where she had fallen was narrower, causing her body to be wedged in more tightly. The rescuers used the same method: they first lowered the rope and secured it around her right foot, then grabbed her hands and slowly pulled her upward. After 20 minutes of effort, they finally managed to pull her up as well.
A hike to cheer up a friend led to danger
After being rescued, the two female hikers expressed their gratitude to the police. Subsequently, Miss Lü recounted what had happened.
It turned out that the five female hikers were all from Licang District and had recently started working after graduation. One of them had gone through a breakup not long ago, so the group decided to go hiking on Mount Lao together to cheer her up.
At around 1 p.m. that day, the five of them set off from Liucui River, taking an off-trail route toward the main peak of Mount Lao, hoping to enjoy the view from the summit. However, they got lost along the way and accidentally ended up on a cliff in the Bashuihe scenic area. Originally, the five were walking down a commonly used hiking trail when Miss Lü noticed a fork in the path that seemed to lead to the road below the cliff. She decided to take this “shortcut.” Unfortunately, the rocky path was slippery, and Miss Lü, wearing flat tourist shoes, accidentally slipped into the crevice. Another companion who tried to pull her also slipped into the crevice. The remaining three had no choice but to call for help.