Mesa County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers responded to a scary incident in western Colorado on February 17, following reports of a climber taking a massive fall.

The 48-year-old male climber out of Grand Junction “fell at least 120 feet” from a climb called Tooth and Claw in the area of Mother’s Buttress, which is located in Whitewater and near Grand Junction.

When the climber took the fall, he came to rest with his partner on a ledge that was an estimated 200 feet from the base of the formation.

From there, the pair waited for rescue climbers, with members of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Mesa County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers, Gateway Fire Department, CareFlight, and the BLM responding to the scene. A drone was ultimately used to locate the rescue subject, with a rope system then used to transport the rescue subject off the cliff face in a litter device.

After the climber was brought down from the wall, he was transported to a local hospital via helicopter.

Miraculously, the climber survived the fall and was last reported to be in stable condition. Exactly how the man survived such a fall without succumbing to his injuries was not a detail that was included in a press release on the matter.

If you’re interested in supporting Colorado’s volunteer-powered search and rescue operation, one way to do so is through the purchase of a CORSAR card. It’s cheap, at only $3 per year.