Coast Guard rescues man who fell 800 feet at Crater Lake

A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued an injured man who fell about 800 feet into the caldera at Crater Lake on Monday afternoon, officials said.

Coast Guard Sector North Bend got a call shortly before 4 p.m. from Crater Lake National Park rangers requesting helicopter support for a man who fell into the caldera near Rim Village.

The MH-65 Dolphin helicopter air crew arrived on scene around 4:30 p.m., as a District 3 technical rope rescue team was already about 600 feet down, officials said. The team reported they could hear a man yelling from farther down into the caldera.

Within 15 minute of arriving on scene, the helicopter crew was hovering above the injured man and conducted a hoist before landing in a nearby parking lot. The man was transfered to an AirLink helicopter crew, who flew the man to St. Charles Bend.

Coast Guard officials said late Monday the condition of the injured man was not known, but he was able to walk after the rescue.

In a separate online message, the National Park Service warned of the danger of the steep caldera walls, in places rising nearly 2,000 feet above the lake’s surface.