Challenging mission recovers body of Bend climber who died on Mount Hood
HOOD RIVER, Ore. (KTVZ) – A multi-agency team of expert mountain rescuers laid out the details Friday of their technically challenging mission on Mount Hood last weekend to recover the body of a 27-year-old Bend man who fell into a crevasse days earlier.
Hood River County sheriff’s deputies said the body of experienced climber and wilderness guide Austin Mishler was found Oct. 29 in a crevasse at about the 9,400-foot elevation, on the north side of the 11,250-foot peak.
Mishler had camped in the area Monday, Oct. 26 and apparently fell while climbing solo in very technical terrain, members of the Hood River Crag Rats and Portland Mountain Rescue said. His body came to rest on an ice block, or “serac,” deep in an icefall.
“This is a no-fall zone,” said Christopher Van Tilburg of the Crag Rats, explaining how they reached the body last Sunday.
“So we had to build anchors several hundred feet above the icefall,” he said. “Rescuers descended into the icefall on ropes. We then used a rope system to raise Mishler to the upper part of the Snow Dome. It was highly technical, but that’s what we do.”
Ben Swerdlow of Portland Mountain Rescue helped engineer the haul and safety systems.
“We lugged eight ropes and at least a dozen pulleys up the mountain,” Swerdlow said. “That will give you an idea of the technical complexity.”
Rescue or recovery efforts on Mount Hood typically require the highly technical skills of specialized rescue mountaineers. The Crag Rats and Portland Mountain Rescue regularly train for such conditions, but the participants said this mission was particularly challenging.
A total of 25 volunteer rescuers from the two units worked as one team to perform the mission. The team climbed to the site in the dark, through difficult mountain terrain, on a 13-hour mission to bring Mishler’s body down to the Timberline Trail.
From there, rescuers from Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue and Clackamas Search and Rescue carried the body back to Cloud Cap. In all, more than 40 volunteers worked on the mission. The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office led the mission from the historic Cloud Cap Inn on Mount Hood. Other organizations involved included the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office and Mountain Wave.
