Some ingenuity and strength helped save a mountain biker who tumbled down a rocky cliff Thursday in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles. 

Photos from a helicopter above the dramatic scene in Angeles National Forest show the man sprawled on rocks below the Mount Wilson Toll Road near Altadena. The man fell off the side of the cliff and was dangling upside-down from the steep, rocky mountainside when a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department rescue team arrived in a helicopter. 

The rescue team said the man’s strength and some quick thinking from his friends likely saved his life. They made a tether out of a rope that prevented him from falling down the mountain, rescuers said. 

The sheriff’s rescue team rappelled down the mountain and airlifted him to safety.

No serious injuries were reported.