Just before noon Saturday, a team of volunteer rescued climbers with Portland Mountain Rescue made contact with a 35-year-old injured climber who fell several hundred feet near Hogsback Ridge.
Rescuers verified that the climber was in serious but stable condition. A helicopter with the Oregon Army National Guard was unable to reach the patient because of high winds.
The helicopter returned to the mountain, still battling extremely dangerous winds, was able to drop of a National Guard Medic on the mountain to tend to the patient.
The helicopter was forced to return to the Portland-area to refuel, but once again returned to once again try and evacuate the patient.
The decision was made to transport the patient with a snowcat to a lower elevation.
At approximately 7:45 p.m., the rescue crew that was with the patient was able to safely get the patient to Timberline Lodge parking lot where the Air Medic Evacuation Unit was waiting to transport the him to the hospital.
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office would like to extend a sincere thank you to our partners who assisted in the search and rescue effort: Portland Mountain Rescue, American Medical Response Reach and Treat, Hood River Crag Rats, Mountain Wave Search and Rescue, and the Oregon Army National Guard.
