Stranded climber lifted from Mount Hood
(Update: Rescue effort completed)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – An Oregon Army National Guard has lifted a stranded climber and six rescuers from the summit of Mount Hood.
State search and rescue coordinator Scott Lucas tells KGW-TV the climber chose Oregon’s tallest peak as the place to end his life and then changed his mind when he got to the top. The man then needed assistance to get back down.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office contacted search and rescue volunteers about the situation Thursday, and they found the man Friday morning.
Six Portland Mountain Rescue volunteers were with the man, who Lucas says is also a diabetic.
Oregon Army National Guard spokesman Christopher Ingersoll tells The Oregonian/OregonLive that it set helicopters to the mountain from Salem and Pendleton.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office learned Thursday that a rescue was needed. Steve Rollins of Portland Mountain Rescue says rescuers reached the injured climber Friday morning on the summit plateau.
Video from the scene showed a group of people around the injured climber. The climber appeared to be wrapped in a sleeping bag.
