PORTLAND, Ore. — A Happy Valley man was rescued after a 700-foot fall from the Old Chute area near the summit of Mount Hood.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office says around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, a 43-year-old man climbing up a popular route up the mountain’s western face lost his ice axe and tumbled down the steep and icy mountainside.
A rescue team reached the climber just before 10:30 a.m.
About 2 1/2 hours later, an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter landed nearby, lowered a litter and flew the climber to a Portland-area hospital.
RELATED: Search and Rescue called out for injured biker west of Bend
RELATED: Some trails in Sisters mountain range still have snow, Forest Service warns
The sheriff’s office said this was the second accident in about a week in that area of Mount Hood. A 31-year-old Portland woman fell several hundred feet from Summit Ridge down the Old Chute on June 24. She suffered critical injuries and was evacuated by helicopter.
Travis Pittman contributed to this report.
