The Park Radio Told Us To Get Off The Ridge And Nobody Ever Sent That Message
62% BELIEVED
CASE FILE #330
FILED: Apr 6, 2026
CLASSIFICATION: Wilderness Encounters
WITNESS ON RECORD: akavak
JURY OF 317 READERS HEARD THIS CASE: 198 believed it, 55 had doubts, 64 weren't buying it.
I lead school groups. It is the best job in the world and it will give me a heart attack.
We were on a ridge, sixteen kids, three adults, clear sky, forecast fine.
At 13:40 the handheld crackled and a voice said our group name — our actual booking name, which is not a thing a stranger would know — and said: "Descend now. North side. Immediately."
I said, "Say again, over."
Nothing. Static. Then nothing at all.
I made a decision that I have been thanked for and questioned about ever since: I turned sixteen tired teenagers around and took them off the ridge, north, fast, and they moaned every step, and one of them cried.
Forty minutes later the weather came in. Not "got worse". Came in. The temperature dropped, the cloud sat on the ridge, and there was hail and a wind that I have only felt twice in my life. On that ridge, with those kids, in what they were wearing, we would have had a very serious problem, and I am choosing my words carefully because two of the parents read everything I write.
We were on a ridge, sixteen kids, three adults, clear sky, forecast fine.
At 13:40 the handheld crackled and a voice said our group name — our actual booking name, which is not a thing a stranger would know — and said: "Descend now. North side. Immediately."
I said, "Say again, over."
Nothing. Static. Then nothing at all.
I made a decision that I have been thanked for and questioned about ever since: I turned sixteen tired teenagers around and took them off the ridge, north, fast, and they moaned every step, and one of them cried.
Forty minutes later the weather came in. Not "got worse". Came in. The temperature dropped, the cloud sat on the ridge, and there was hail and a wind that I have only felt twice in my life. On that ridge, with those kids, in what they were wearing, we would have had a very serious problem, and I am choosing my words carefully because two of the parents read everything I write.
THIS EXCERPT ENDS HERE. The remaining 169 words of the testimony — and the reader jury — are on file at:
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https://www.swearithappened.com/wilderness-encounter-stories/the-park-radio-told-us-to-get-off-the-ridge-and-nobody-ever-sent-that-message-330/
Votes on record: 198 believed · 55 unsure · 64 didn't · 62% of readers believe this story