NATIONAL NEWS - A mountain hike turned into a difficult air rescue effort in treacherous terrain after a hiker fell and injured himself in the Tsitsikamma mountains, having to seek shelter with his party overnight.
Gerhard de Jager, 40, who had a bad fall and broke his ankle on Saturday, had to spend the night on top of the mountain as conditions were too dangerous for a rescue attempt.
He was eventually airlifted from a difficult area between Formosa Peak and Spitskop in the mountains near the Langkloof yesterday and underwent surgery on his ankle later in the day.
A member of the Mountain Club of South Africa’s search-and-rescue team, Francois Searle, said they received a call at about 3pm on Saturday, but due to rainy and windy conditions they were unable to help.
“They were a group of eight hikers, some of them members of the Mountain Club, who went on a three-day hike that took them up to Formosa Peak and back down again,” he said.
