Tree stops St. Paul hiker's 75-foot fall from cliff

Mississippi River Bluffs hiker rescue. Photo credit: St. Paul Fire Dept.

A hiker slipped and fell about 75 feet down the steep, heavily-wooded Mississippi River Bluffs in St. Paul early Saturday afternoon. The bluffs drop nearly 100 feet, but the man’s fall was stopped when his leg got caught in a tree.

The St. Paul Fire Department was dispatched to Mississippi River Blvd. and Summit Ave. at 1:29 p.m. The department's Advanced Tactical Rescue Team (ATR), staffed by Rescue Squad 3, conducted a high-angle rescue to reach the injured hiker and hoist him up the cliff in a basket.

The man was hiking with his wife at the time of his fall. She did not fall and was not injured.