Dish soap helps free girl stuck on Pine Co. cliff

The trick to freeing a 13-year-old rock climber trapped Wednesday on the side of a northern Minnesota cliff? Dawn dish soap.

The extrication at Robinson Park in Pine County took four hours, and the rescuers were initially concerned that the girl would lose blood flow.

Crews first used a tool to pry apart the rock and that helped relieve the pressure, but the girl was still was stuck on the cliff some 40 feet off the ground, said St. Louis County Rescue Squad Capt. Rick Slatten.

"It's the proverbial child with his head caught in the banister," he said. "We just lubed up her leg and knee in Dawn dish soap. A little hammer and chisel work — carefully chipping away key pieces — and we were able to free her at that point."

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The rescue involved dozens of people from various agencies.

Slatten said he's not sure who came up with the idea of the dish soap but that he's seen it work in the movies in sticky situations.

"It appeared, and we used it," he said.

The girl was treated at the hospital and is expected to fully recover.