A climber has died after falling up to 1,000 feet from Oregon’s tallest peak and at least seven others spent several hours stranded on the face of the mountain with tumbling rocks and falling ice.
The man fell from Mount Hood in northern Oregon on Tuesday and was airlifted to a Portland hospital where he was pronounced dead.
By the time rescue crews arrived he was bleeding, had injuries to his face and his respiration was on and off. Authorities have not released his identity.
More than a half-dozen had been climbing near Mount Hood’s 11,000 foot peak when they encountered the tumbling rocks and falling ice.
One man died and at least seven others were stranded on Mount Hood in Oregon on Tuesday due to tumbling rocks and falling ice. They were rescued late on Tuesday
Two groups of climbers spent much of the day stranded high on the slopes, but slowly made their way down the mountain.
A group of four people, which included a climber who had been hurt and was having difficulty walking, were assisted by rescuers.
Rescuers used a sled and a rope system to bring down a woman who said she was unable to move. She arrived at the Timberline Lodge just before 8pm.
A group of three other people descended on their own.
Randy Lee, 44, was descending from near the summit shortly before noon when he met a group of climbers who said their companion had just fallen some 1,000 feet.
‘They said he tumbled. They said it looked like he was doing cartwheels,’ Lee told Reuters.
Rescuers with Portland Mountain Rescue and the 304th Air Force Reserve Rescue Squadron unload after helping climbers descend from Mount Hood late on Tuesday
A 40-person rescue crew used a helicopter and ground personnel to aid the stranded people
Rescue personnel attend the staging area for rescues on Mount Hood in Oregon on Tuesday
Lee said one of the four remaining climbers descended to the injured man, and shortly afterward another member of the party fell several hundred feet and suffered minor injuries.
He said he and the three remaining climbers regrouped and waited for roughly two hours for rescuers to arrive, adding that one woman in the party was shivering and appeared to be suffering from shock.
Climbers had used their cellphones to report that conditions were hazardous and described the falling rocks and ice ‘like a bowling alley’.
The climbers had enough food and water to last a day but needed to get off the mountain because of a winter storm expected to roll through early Wednesday.
A 40-person rescue crew used a helicopter and ground personnel to aid the stranded people.
An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 climbers from around the world each year try to scale Mount Hood.
More than a half-dozen had been climbing near Mount Hood’s 11,000 foot peak when they encountered the tumbling rocks and falling ice