Rescuers were forced to airlift a man to hospital on Wednesday afternoon after the victim fell nearly 50 feet at a climbing hotspot in rural Perthshire.
The dramatic incident unfolded at Weem Crags on the outskirts of Aberfeldy at around 1pm after a male climber in his 20s fell on the rock face and suffered spinal injuries.
Witnesses say they heard screaming coming from the leafy covered cragg as the three-hour long rescue attempt got underway.
Emergency services including a search and rescue helicopter and the ambulance’s special operations response team were scrambled to the quiet village in Highland Perthshire to help the stricken man.
One onlooker, Pat Lynch, said: “I heard someone screaming and shouting.
“The helicopter came and hovered for a little while and then went and landed in the field.
“The paramedics went up got the guy ready and the helicopter went back up and put a line down and they’ve airlifted him.
“It was maybe two or three hours that they were going back and forward.
“It was quite a bit of drama.”
Adam Seward, who lives near the scene, said: “The helicopter hovered over the hillside for quite a while and dropped a stretcher down with ropes.
“There were guys on the ground and then it looked like the helicopter lifted the stretcher back up again.”
A third witness, who didn’t wish to be named, praised the emergency services for their quick action.
He said: “The helicopter did a fantastic job.
“It was up there for hours and the hill was all cordoned off.”
The witness added the Weem Cragg, or Weem rock, was a popular destination for climbers.”
He said: “It’s a huge run up to the Weem rock.
“Climbers come all the time to go up it.”
This was confirmed by Adam Sward who said: “There’s some proper climbers that go up there.”
The extent of the man’s injuries is currently unknown but police said he was flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for treatment to spinal injuries.
The emergency services departed the scene at around 4pm.
