The rescue operation began late on Saturday afternoon after a 55-year-old German visitor fell while hiking above Camps Bay. By Sunday afternoon, three hikers had received medical assistance, with rescuers going to extraordinary lengths to ensure everyone made it safely off the mountain.
From spending the night monitoring an injured man’s condition to carrying a teenager down Platteklip Gorge, the incidents highlighted the dedication of the people who respond when a day in Cape Town’s mountains takes an unexpected turn.
The first emergency unfolded when the German visitor, who regularly travels to Cape Town, lost his way while hiking the India Venster route.
While attempting to continue along a faint trail, he slipped and fell approximately four metres. He was briefly unconscious and in considerable pain but managed to crawl to a safer ledge and call for help.
Wilderness Search and Rescue teams were dispatched to the Grotto Fountain Cairn Traverse to reach him.
An attempt by the Western Cape Government Health and Wellness EMS and Air Mercy Service rescue helicopter to access the location was abandoned because the terrain was too difficult to reach. A drone team was also activated to help monitor the operation and support rescuers on the ground.
Once the team reached the injured hiker, an EMS paramedic assessed and treated him.
However, darkness and the challenging terrain made an immediate evacuation too risky. The rescuers decided to remain with him overnight and continue the operation at first light.
Throughout the night, the team stayed beside the visitor, monitoring his condition, providing ongoing treatment and keeping him comfortable while waiting for a safer opportunity to get him off the mountain.
As daylight returned, the rescue operation resumed with another helicopter deployment and a fresh team of rescuers carrying additional equipment.
The original team had managed to move the injured man a short distance during the night, positioning him somewhere more suitable for a helicopter evacuation.
This allowed the helicopter crew to complete a hoist and lift him from the mountain.
He was flown to a nearby landing zone, where he was transferred to an ambulance and taken to hospital for further treatment.
With the patient evacuated and the paramedic flown from the scene, the remaining rescuers began making their way towards the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway station.
After a demanding night on the mountain, they could finally have expected to head home.
Instead, another emergency was waiting.
While preparing to leave, the team received word that a 17-year-old hiker was in distress on Platteklip Gorge, one of Table Mountain’s best-known hiking routes.
The rescuers made their way back up the mountain using the cableway before crossing to the route and descending on foot to reach the teenager, who was approximately halfway down the gorge.
There, they encountered SANParks Table Mountain National Park rangers, who alerted them to a second hiker in distress about 100 metres further down the trail.
Both young hikers were suffering from dehydration and exhaustion. The second patient was barely conscious.
The rescuers immediately began providing assistance, giving the hikers an electrolyte solution and pouring water over their heads and necks to help cool them.
Additional rescue personnel arrived to help bring the first teenager safely to the bottom of the trail.
Concerned about the second teenager’s condition and his continued exposure to the sun, two experienced trail runners from the rescue team decided to carry him on their backs for the remainder of the descent.
They took turns carrying the 17-year-old towards the road, where paramedics were waiting.
Both teenagers were assessed by Western Cape Government Health and Wellness paramedics at the bottom of the trail.
By 13:40 on Sunday, the operation had concluded, with all three patients safely off the mountain.
For WSAR spokesperson David Nel, the rescuers’ response captured the spirit of mountain rescue.
He said the team had already made an extraordinary effort by spending the night caring for the injured German visitor, yet they did not hesitate when they learned that two more hikers needed assistance.
Nel highlighted how two rescuers took turns carrying the 17-year-old down the mountain to get him medical attention as quickly as possible.
He described the team’s commitment as a powerful example of what mountain rescue represents: people looking after people, whatever it takes.
The rescue teams have wished all three hikers a swift and full recovery.
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Stellenbosch student rescued by helicopter after four-metre fall at Jonkershoek
Picture: WSAR / Adam Griffin
