GRAND VIEW, Idaho — A 21-year-old man stranded on a cliff several hundred feet above the ground in Idaho’s Purjue Canyon was brought to safety after a multi-agency rescue operation involving the Idaho Army National Guard and local emergency teams.
The man became stuck on Sept. 24 near Grand View and was unable to climb either up or down, according to the Idaho Army National Guard. He used voice-to-text to contact his family and call 911.
An Idaho Army National Guard flight crew transported members of the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit’s technical rescue team to the top of the cliff. Rescuers then built a two-tension rope system using a rock as an anchor and lowered a rescuer to the stranded man.
While the man held onto the rock face, the rescuer fitted him with a harness. Both were then lowered to the ground. The Guard said the man was not injured.
The operation also involved the Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office and Grand View Fire Department. It came one day after a separate Idaho Army National Guard crew assisted in another search-and-rescue mission in Idaho County.
The Guard said the two operations were its 12th and 13th successful search-and-rescue missions of 2026.
Official rescue imagery
DVIDS published an official Idaho Army National Guard image connected to the Purjue Canyon rescue. The image is identified by DVIDS as public domain, subject to DVIDS copyright restrictions.
Photo credit: Courtesy Photo / Idaho Army National Guard via DVIDS.
Sources: Idaho Army National Guard / DVIDS; DVIDS official image record.