Man In California Rescued After Spending Two Days Trapped Behind Waterfall

This was a remarkable rescue effort.

A climber in California was trapped behind a waterfall for two days, prompting a helicopter rescue crew to save the man.

A 46-year-old climber in California was rappelling down the Seven Teacups waterfalls when he found himself stuck.

After authorities received a missing person report for the man, they sent out a helicopter crew to find him at the waterfall.

Fox News provided the following details on the rescue effort:

A 46-year-old man was rescued by helicopter after he was trapped for two days behind a waterfall in California.

Ryan Wardwell of Long Beach was planning to rappel the Seven Teacups waterfalls Sunday evening but became trapped after the water’s strong hydraulics forced him off his climbing lines, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

On Monday, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a missing man who had last been seen at the top of the waterfall and had not returned to his car.

This prompted police to launch an extensive search of the area, using aircraft equipped with infrared technology and cameras. However, the rough terrain and late hour delayed the search until the next morning, law enforcement said.

Early Tuesday morning, a dive and rescue team began a search, and a drone discovered Wardell was alive and responsive behind a large waterfall, according to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.

Watch here:

In what authorities are calling a “stunning survival story,” a man who was trapped behind a roaring waterfall in the Southern Sierra for two days was rescued on Tuesday.

Read the story ⤵️https://t.co/Qjya3FOG9b pic.twitter.com/vMNff0PS3I

— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) August 14, 2025

People Magazine reported the story in more depth:

Wardwell had hiked to the top of the falls with four friends, who decided to turn back after seeing the power of the rushing water, California Highway Patrol flight officer paramedic Mike Crane told the San Francisco Chronicle.

ADVERTISEMENT

But Wardwell, who had rappelled the waterfalls four times before, decided to go on his own. After his friends got back to the trailhead, they left a note on his car, telling people nearby to report Wardwell as missing if his vehicle was still there the next day, the paper reported.

By Monday, Aug. 11, the sheriff’s office received reports that Wardwell was missing and was last seen at the top of the Seven Teacups waterfalls the evening prior.

After an extensive search of the area, “using aircraft equipped with camera and infrared technology,” emergency responders were able to locate the missing man’s possible location, but it was too late to rescue him. Officials planned to return “at first light” the next day when it was safer.

On the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 12, a drone found Wardwell alive behind a large waterfall. The man told deputies that “he had come off his rappel lines and got trapped behind the waterfall because of the extreme hydraulics of the river,” officials said.

Wardwell had stationed himself in a dark cave beneath the waterfall, where he huddled, soaking wet, for two days, the Chronicle reported.

“He tried for days to escape, but there was nothing he could do to break through,” Capt. Kevin Kemmerling of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office told the outlet. “There was no way for him to warm up or dry out in there, so it had to have been miserable.”

A member of the rescue team was lowered down into the waterfall from the helicopter, secured Wardwell, before both men were hoisted to safety, authorities said. Officials described it as a “stunning survival story” and shared footage of the rescuer being carefully lowered to the cave entrance and the extraction of the two men.