Two climbers who became stranded on top of a sheer-sided rock on Tasmania’s Cape Hauy have been rescued overnight.
They spent the night on the Totem Pole in the Apple Isle’s south-east when their ropes became “entangled” in high winds, police say.
The emergency began at 6pm yesterday when the climbers reported they were unable to reach safety.
“Initial attempts to rescue the climbers by helicopter with deployment of a vertical rescue team was aborted due to high winds,” said Senior Constable Callum Herbert.
Police said they worked with the Climbing Club of Tasmania’s vertical rescue team as well as Ambulance Tasmania in an effort to rescue them from the 60m-high rock.
Rescue teams walked from Fortescue Bay and reached the climbers late last night after scaling the Totem Pole in wet, dark and windy conditions.
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The pair were secured to rescue ropes and moved to cliffs on the land, then as dawn broke this morning, they were hauled about 50 metres to safety by their rescuers.
The climbers, who police say were from interstate and had reasonable climbing experience, were treated at the scene by a paramedic but had no injuries.
