Nightmare In North Arizona: The 13-Hour Rescue

In 2003, Aron Ralston was hiking in Utah's Canyonlands National Park when he became trapped between a rock and a hard place. literally.

The multi-day survival/rescue became one of the biggest stories of the decade, and he received his own feature film "127 Hours" in 2010.

History repeats itself in the Grand Canyon State.

Trapped!

On July 19th, two friends went hiking at Wildcat Tank Canyon, a popular trail located just outside of Page. During their hike, they decided to descend into one of the canyons for a closer look. During their descent, they became trapped between the rock walls, unable to move.

They claim that they were trapped at their hips, making movement in any direction impossible. One of the hikers, Madison Hart says that if she "went forward or backward, [she] would have been stuck completely and gotten a crush injury".

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Here to the Rescue

The two panicked. They were so far down that it was unlikely for other hikers to find them, and it was impossible to reach anyone on the outside. Allegedly, over 10 calls were placed to Coconino County Sheriff's Office, none of which went through. The two also made a fire in hopes of creating a smoke signal, but once again, nothing.

Eventually, Hart's friend was able to get a call to her roommate, and the operation started. Eventually, an airlift arrived, and got Hart's friend out. Hart herself had to spend another grueling five hours, as she was unable to reach the initial rescue team. She was trapped for a total of 13 hours.

Both are happy to live to tell the tale, though Hart will have to suffer through a broken ankle.

[Yahoo!]