“The forces on us were absolutely incredible,” Rivers said Sunday. “To be honest with you, I don’t know exactly how I was able to hang onto him for as long as I did. It was definitely not easy. I’m very sore today.” The team was called out at 3:08 p.m. Saturday, arriving on the scene just 12 minutes later. “We found the individual straddling a log in the middle of the river … So a very precarious position.” That’s when Rivers attached his ropes and was lowered 26 metres from a cliff into the water. “We know that he is going to quite cold so we wanted to move urgently.”