BAR HARBOR — A broken rope was to blame for the injury of three climbers on a 25-foot-high rock face and a complicated rescue at Acadia National Park, rangers said Monday.
Two men tumbled from the rock face at Otter Cliff, and one of them landed on a third climber at the bottom of the cliff Sunday morning, rangers said.
A man and a woman who were clients of Acadia Mountain Guides were released from a hospital Monday, a day after being taken away in ambulances, said company owner Jon Tierney.
The episode that unfolded at Otter Cliff led to a “time-consuming and difficult” rescue that involved park rangers, Mount Desert Island Fire and Rescue, the Coast Guard and the Bar Harbor Police Department, said Will Overton, a ranger.
It took roughly four hours to get the victims hoisted in litters to the top of the cliff.
Both the company and rangers were investigating.
It’s clear that a rope broke, but the company wants to know why. “The systems were technically sound,” Tierney said. “They were following industry standards.”
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