OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Two Norwegian electricians trapped for an entire day in a basket 85 meters hanging (280 feet) above a fjord successfully rappelled down to a boat waiting below, rescue workers said Tuesday.
The workers were stranded over the Nordfjord in western Norway on Monday after the basket they had been working in became stuck on the power cable due to an unknown technical failure.
An attempt early Tuesday to rescue them by helicopter failed because of windy weather, so rescue services called in a local group of alpinists to lead a new rescue operation.
Jan Gunnar Hole, who led it, told The Associated Press that he proposed dropping ropes to the men from a helicopter, then instructing them via mobile phone how to rappel down to one of two boats.
"This was the simplest solution," he said. "The men were cold, of course, but when you're climbing down from 85 meters there's a lot of adrenalin."
Given the success of the operation, he must have been right.
The fjord is located south of the city of Trondheim.
