A 53-year-old climber spent roughly an hour and a half dangling from the 2,173m Campanile di Val Montanaia after a rappel error on the striking 300m rock needle.
The incident happened on the afternoon of August 19 in the Friulian Dolomites of northeastern Italy. Paolo Molin, from the island of Burano in the Venice lagoon, and his climbing partner Silvia Furlanetto, also from Burano, had reached the summit without trouble.
As they began to descend on a double rope from the broad ledge known as the grande ballatoio, they took the wrong line and drifted too far west. Molin went first. After 50m, he found no ledge. With nothing to stand on, he was left hanging free on the rope while Furlanetto remained on the balcony above, unable to reach him.
A wrong turn
The rope length was normal for a standard rappel stage on the correct descent route (usually 40–60m to the next ledge or anchor). But because they had drifted onto the west face, there were no ledges or intermediate anchors at that distance. So when the rope ran out after 50m, Molin was left hanging in free space with no way to continue down or easily climb back up.
At around 7 pm, walkers at the base of the spire spotted the pair and hiked to the nearest refuge to raise the alarm. According to the official rescue reports, the situation carried a real medical risk: prolonged immobility in a harness can trigger suspension trauma, cutting off circulation. Fog, failing light, and rockfall danger ruled out a straightforward helicopter winch. Rotor wash from one attempt even sent stones cascading down the face, the mountain rescue service noted.
In the end, alpine rescuers flew three technicians onto the east ledge of the tower with 200m of rope. After nightfall, they traversed to the balcony and secured Furlanetto. One rescuer rappelled down to Molin, clipped him in, cut the jammed ropes, and lowered him the rest of the way. Both climbers reached the base around 1:30 am on Thursday, August 20, conscious and essentially unhurt after a dramatic five-hour rescue operation.
Photo: Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico FVG/Facebook
Japanese climber Takeyasu Minamiura once found himself in an even longer mid-air predicament on the Nameless Tower in the Karakoram in 1990. A failed paraglider jump from the summit left him suspended overnight and stranded on the mountain for days. We recounted his incredible story.
