Jeff Cuddeback was shaking, sweating and growing increasingly concerned for his own safety after getting stuck on a cliff above Fintry Falls for more than two hours Thursday afternoon.
His friend, Bryn Marsh, managed to get off the closed trail and called for help. He then filmed the rescue from a distance.
“He’s usually the guy who pushes forward,” Marsh told Global News.
“It was getting intense and more intense and I found a crevasse to get into and I wedged myself in then kind of scampered up and made a couple of pull-ups — kind of leaps and two hand holds — and made it up there,” Marsh said of getting out of the sticky spot.
Marsh said the entire ordeal was frightening.
“I was telling myself jokes and keeping myself calm. Coping with laughter, basically,” he said.
When rescuers arrived by helicopter, Marsh said he was worried about the sweeping winds.
“I was worried about him getting blown off by the helicopter,” Marsh said.
Cuddeback admits the situation was stressful.
“Having the helicopter there was scary,” he said. “A lot of sticks were flying, rocks were flying off the cliff, the trees were waving back and forth. Probably the scariest part when the helicopter came.”
A rope Marsh threw to Cuddeback made him feel safer, but it wasn’t strong enough to climb.
Cuddeback was uninjured.