JAW-DROPPING

Hiker Explains How a ‘Brave’ Choice Left Him in Trapped on a Cliff

Cody Cretini had to be saved in a dramatic helicopter rescue.

A hiker says he found himself clinging to a crumbling cliff over the weekend as a result of his decision to take a “brave” shortcut. Cody Cretini was saved in a helicopter rescue from the cliff in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California after being unable to climb up or down for about an hour. “My muscles were tired. I was cramping. And I knew if I fall... it wasn’t going to be good,” Cretini told ABC News. He explained that he’d gone for a walk on a beach with his girlfriend earlier on Sunday when he decided to take a shortcut up a hill. “I decided to climb the cliff, you know, be brave, be adventurous,” he said. “And so I started climbing and about 40 or 50 feet up, I get to a spot where all the rocks start crumbling, and like every rock that I grab just gets removed from the cliff.” His girlfriend called for help, with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office later releasing a video of the rescue mission.