SF Fire Rescues Woman Clinging to Cliff Above Ocean Beach Waves

Along the rocky shoreline that walkers and joggers pass daily on the Great Highway, San Francisco firefighters rappelled down a cliff Wednesday afternoon to rescue a woman who had gone over the edge near the Cliff House and was clinging to the rocks with ocean waves crashing below her.

The San Francisco Fire Department responded to the scene near 367 Great Hwy, Ocean Beach Stairwell #1, where the unidentified woman was stranded approximately 70 feet down the cliff face, wearing only a bikini and no shoes. The California Highway Patrol helicopter was activated to assist as SFFD crews mobilized at the top of the cliff.

Firefighters first dropped a rescue cable down to the woman so she could secure herself to the rock face. One firefighter then rappelled down to her position, strapping a harness and a helmet onto her before the team began the work of bringing her back up. It took a few tense minutes, but rescue crews walked her safely up the cliff to the roadway above.

Minutes after reaching the top, she was placed into an ambulance and transported to a hospital. Aerial footage from news helicopters hovering over the scene captured the full sequence: the woman pressed against the rocks as waves moved beneath her, the firefighter descending toward her, and the slow climb back to safety.

It was not immediately known how the woman ended up over the edge. The San Francisco Fire Department said in a statement that she had gone over the cliff and became stuck on the rocks, but did not immediately provide additional details. Her identity, age, and medical condition were not disclosed.

The rescue unfolded at one of the city's most visited coastal landmarks. The Cliff House, perched above Ocean Beach on San Francisco's northwestern edge near the Lands End lookout, draws hikers and sightseers year-round. The building is owned by the National Park Service; a restaurant that once operated inside has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

How the woman came to be on the rocks below the cliff, and what role the CHP helicopter played beyond its activation, remained unanswered as of Wednesday evening.