A dog stranded roughly 200 feet above the ground on a North Carolina cliff is safely back on its feet, thanks to four rescuers and a challenging descent that required three tandem rappels.
Here's what to know
A four-person team from Pisgah Climbing School reached the dog near where the Appalachian Trail passes Franklin, N.C., after the animal's three-day ordeal, according to The Trek.
The technical demands were intense even for team leader Karsten Delap, who has been rescuing dogs for two decades.
Delap led the effort and is a Pisgah Climbing School guide credentialed by the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations.
Rescuers were still working late into the night after starting on the evening of Oct. 19.
More background
The Pisgah Climbing School team wasn't the first to try: multiple groups had already failed to bring the dog to safety.
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Just 25 feet separated one earlier group from the dog, but that final stretch prevented the rescuers from reaching and securing it.
Social media reports suggested the dog was back with its owner, The Trek noted, but that outcome remained unverified.
How the animal ended up stranded on the cliff was also unknown.
What's being done?
Reaching the dog required a two-pitch technical climb.
Before beginning that climb, the Pisgah team had to hike to the site and scramble about 100 feet.
Footage from Pisgah Climbing School, described by The Trek, shows rescuers lowering the dog down a steep, brush-covered slope in the dark.
The team secured the animal before bringing it down in three tandem rappels.
After the rope-assisted descent, the dog walked away without assistance, and the school said the animal came through the ordeal without injury.
Delap described the rescue's challenges in a written statement, The Trek reported.
"It was the most technical dog rescue I've done, and I've done well over 10 in the last 20 years."
Where can I learn more?
Other dogs have needed help getting off steep terrain, too.
• After a week missing, a dog was rescued from a cliff in South Australia.
• A snapped lead sparked a cliff-edge rescue from gorse during a South Devon walk.
• In England's Lake District, a tiny dog survived nearly three weeks alone before rescue.
• New Mexico deputies hauled an exhausted dog weighing 130 pounds off a mountain.
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