LONE PINE — A California Highway Patrol helicopter crew rescued four climbers from a Sierra Nevada peak.
The effort began Sunday when the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office received an emergency satellite transmission requesting rescue.

The office says the group went off course while descending Mount Russell and got stuck above a steep couloir (KOOL-wahr).
The helicopter crew located them around 5:30 p.m. at 13,000 feet.
An Inyo search-and-rescue team member lowered on a 100-foot cable secured three of the climbers on the cliff and hooked up the fourth for a hoist.
The chopper flew to Lone Pine Airport to refuel and then returned to hoist the others one at a time.
Authorities say alpine conditions will remain potentially life-threatening into the summer due to the massive winter snowfall.