Fire crews rescued a man last night from a sandbar after he climbed down from the walkway of Saskatoon's Circle Drive South Bridge to retrieve a phone.

"He was not intoxicated," battalion Chief Brent Hart said about the incident that happened just before 11 p.m. CST.

"He dropped the phone and thought he had a good shot at getting it back."

He was not intoxicated. - Brent Hart, battalion chief

Hart said the man, in his 20s, was walking with his girlfriend across the pedestrian underpass when his phone somehow went over the rail.

The man could see the phone glowing on the sandbar, about eight metres below the walkway. He went back to his car and got a rope from his trunk.

Hart said the man "was familiar with ropes."

He managed to shimmy down the rope and get the phone. That's when the trouble started.

The wind picked up, it started to blow snow and the temperature began dropping.

A bridge, a phone and a bad idea. (Dan Zakreski/CBC) Over the next couple of hours, the man tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to climb back up the rope.

Cold and tired, he finally decided to call 911, as at that point, he had a phone.

Fire crews lowered down an emergency blanket and hand warmers, and then set up a rope rigging system to pull the man to safety.

He was not hurt.

The fire department sent out a news release that said it does not recommend anyone leave the confines of pedestrian walkways for any reason.