Fallen, injured Mt. Hood climbers rescued
Rescuers who happened to be training on the slopes of Mt. Hood quickly reached two injured climbers who fell on the mountain Saturday morning. An Oregon National Guard helicopter later flew them to a Portland hospital.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said the climbers, a man and a woman, were injured near Hogsback, a popular route on the south side of the mountain, just before 11 a.m.
The injured woman broke both her ankles in her fall. The man broke his leg, according to Deputy Ben Frazier. The names have not been released.
A third climber who also fell was not seriously hurt. He was able to make it down the mountain with help.
Steve Rollins with Portland Mountain Rescue told KGW a rescue team was training on the mountain and was able to immediately reach the injured climbers after they fell.
“Any time we don’t have to call out people from the whole Portland metro area and they are already out there training, they are a huge asset for us,” Deputy Mark Nikolai said. “They’re up there training, they’ve got the skills, they’ve got the utilities wherever they need.”
American Medical Response said a Reach and Treat Paramedic Team reached the injured climbers just before 2 p.m. Clackamas County Search and Rescue teams also arrived to help. The National Guard helicopter arrived around 4 p.m.
