{"id":17051,"date":"2026-09-04T22:24:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T22:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=17051"},"modified":"2026-09-04T22:24:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T22:24:50","slug":"2-climbers-rescued-after-spending-the-night-on-pingora-peak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=17051","title":{"rendered":"2 Climbers Rescued After Spending the Night on Pingora Peak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>A stuck rope during a descent in Wyoming&#8217;s Wind River Range left two climbers facing a chilly overnight wait before high-angle rescue teams could reach them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">With only a few hours to spare before sunset, the rescue had to wait until the next morning to head in<!-- --> (Photo: Courtesy of Tip Top Search and Rescue)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published September 4, 2026 03:29PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Two stranded climbers had to spend the night on Pingora Peak, a nearly 12,000-foot granite mountain in the Wind River Range of Wyoming, before being rescued by lifesaving crews.<\/p>\n<p>On August 20, the duo tried to bail on a climbing route when their rope got stuck while rappelling, leaving them unable to descend. It was around 5 P.M. when they hit their SOS button from a ledge, according to responding agency <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/story.php?story_fbid=1504416848388937&amp;id=100064619082552&amp;mibextid=wwXIfr&amp;rdid=1SskYcR8tQKHB8KB#\">Tip Top Search and Rescue<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>With only a few hours to spare before sunset, the rescue had to wait until the next morning. Around 7 A.M., a search-and-rescue group set in to rescue the two climbers. Two Lander Search and Rescue (LSAR) high-angle rescue teams, a specialized emergency response unit trained to reach and recover people from steep faces, also took part.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMultiple attempts were made to deliver long-line supplies to the two stranded climbers, but due to the wind and the clearance of the rotor blades, it was aborted,\u201d Tip Top SAR said in a statement. \u201cThe two LSAR climbers were deployed. Once LSAR reached the two climbers, they lowered both to the base of Pingora.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the climbers was wearing a bright orange jacket, which helped the team spot the duo on their first pass into the Cirque, Tip Top<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite spending a chilly night on the side of Pingora, the rescued climbers reported that they were okay, just thirsty and tired,\u201d responders wrote. \u201cBoth were uninjured and declined transport. The rescued climbers continued their trip and hiked out.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2754281\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"photo on the left shows a view from the helicopter of the wind river range, photo on the right shows the face where the climbers were stranded and a helicopter in view\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1745\" height=\"1071\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2754281\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-Untitled-Design-7.jpg?width=1920&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x, https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-Untitled-Design-7.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 2x\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-Untitled-Design-7.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\">(Left) A view from the search-and-rescue helicopter shows the Wind River Range. (Right) The climbers stayed the night on a ledge on Pingora Peak. (Photos courtesy of Tip Top Search and Rescue)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>A Classic Climb in the Wyoming Wilderness<\/h2>\n<p>Pingora Peak is a famed summit that forms the Cirque of the Towers, a granite amphitheater of jagged peaks in the southern part of the Winds. It\u2019s unclear what route the two were on, but Pingora Peak is considered to be a \u201clow-hanging fruit of accessible alpine climbing in the Wind River Range,\u201d Colorado climber Adam McClatchie told <em>Outside<\/em>. Pingora Peak is included in the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.alpineinstitute.com\/articles\/50-classic-climbs\/\"><em>5<\/em><\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.alpineinstitute.com\/articles\/50-classic-climbs\/\"><em>0 Classic Climbs of North Americ<\/em>a<\/a>, a list of coveted climbs made famous in the 1979 climbing guidebook by Yosemite climbing pioneers Steve Roper and Allen Steck.<\/p>\n<p>Although McClatchie considers Pingora Peak a bucket-list climb and a beginner route, its remote location makes it deceptively difficult. For starters, would-be climbers need to hike about ten miles to reach its base, which requires a certain level of alpine fitness. The routes can also be hard to spot, so climbers need a trained eye, and its steep terrain requires technical skills and proper rope management.<\/p>\n<p>McClatchie, 34, has been climbing for over a decade and has climbed routes on Pingora Peak on three occasions between 2020 and 2022. He says that it\u2019s not uncommon for people to get in sticky situations and need rescue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have witnessed parties on Pingora very late at night that were very clearly struggling to get down,\u201d McClatchie said. \u201cI don\u2019t think I witnessed a rescue per se, but I\u2019ve seen headlamps on the wall in the wee hours of the night in rainstorms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the nature of alpine climbing,\u201d McClatchie added. \u201cThings can turn really quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/exploration-survival\/pingora-peak-rescue-wind-river-range-wyoming\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A stuck rope during a descent in Wyoming&#8217;s Wind River Range left two climbers facing a chilly overnight wait before high-angle rescue teams could reach them. With only a few hours to spare before sunset, the rescue had to wait until the next morning to head in (Photo: Courtesy of Tip Top Search and Rescue)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}