An Auburn area man was in critical condition after he fell 60 feet off a cliff in Foresthill.

Citing medical privacy laws, officials said they could not release the name of the 50-year-old man who was airlifted out of a meadow about 500 feet from where he plunged to the rough terrain below.

The man was reportedly clearing land on property located off Baltimore Mine Road in Foresthill Friday morning.

At about 8:20 a.m., 911-dispatch center received a call that a man had fallen off a cliff.

When emergency responders arrived, they initially saw the man standing up and he could talk to personnel, according to Lt. Robert Sinetos with the Foresthill Fire Protection District.

However, as time wore on, the man’s condition “deteriorated,” Sinetos said.

Emergency crews hiked down to the man and had to use chainsaws to cut through thick brush, Sinetos said.

Sinetos estimated that the man fell 60 vertical feet and then tumbled an additional 40 feet down the side of the cliff wall.

Once emergency crews reached the patient, ambulance technicians stabilized him and prepared him to be lifted via helicopter.

At about 10:30 a.m. a California Highway Patrol helicopter let out a long line and the man was pulled up out of the canyon.

He was taken to Sutter Roseville Medical Center to treat suspected spinal and pelvic injuries, Sinetos said.

Sinetos said the man and two other coworkers were clearing land for a future commercial building site when a tree fell and knocked the 50-year-old man off the cliff.

Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com.