3 men plunge nearly 40 feet after old rope snaps on Santa Cruz beach cliff

Six men became stranded on Davenport Beach just north of Santa Cruz after an old rope snapped during an attempted climb up a coastal cliff. 

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Shortly before 11 p.m. on Saturday, the Santa Cruz Fire Department said it was dispatched to the area after a group attempted to climb from the beach to the bluff using an unauthorized rope installed near the top of the cliff. Cal Fire spokesperson Cecile Juliette confirmed to SFGATE that all six members of the group were “males estimated to be in their 20s.”

Three people were on the rope when it snapped, causing them to plunge an estimated 30 to 40 feet onto the beach, Cal Fire said in a news release. The remaining three members of the group made it about halfway up the cliff before getting stranded after the terrain became too steep to continue. 

With heavy fog preventing helicopter operations, Cal Fire said crews used the Santa Cruz Fire Department’s ladder truck and a high-angle rescue system to hoist the three injured up. All were transported to a local trauma hospital by ambulance, with one man critically injured in the fall and the other two suffering moderate injuries.

Firefighters then used ropes and harnesses to help the remaining three men reach the bluff and later retrieve five responders who had descended to the beach. 

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Additional emergency personnel from American Medical Response, Cal Fire, California State Parks and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office helped bring the men to safety.