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One person died, and another was critically injured after falling 200 feet off Mount Hood in Oregon. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said they received a distress call on Sunday and sent a search-and-rescue crew to look for the two climbers.
The rescuers faced harrowing conditions, including 50-60 mph wind gusts, deep snow, and two avalanches. Two rescue crews had to turn around due to the harsh conditions, while the Oregon Office of Emergency Management could not launch a helicopter due to the bad weather.
On Monday, several other groups joined the rescue operation. They managed to locate the climbers by climbing to the summit of the mountain and then descending on the other side to reach them. By the time they arrived, one of the climbers had died, while the other was suffering from critical injuries. Because of the brutal conditions, they decided to leave the deceased person on the mountain and worked to evacuate the person who was injured.
The National Guard tried to airlift the person off of the mountain, but the conditions were too challenging. Instead, the rescuers had to use ropes, a litter, and a snowcat to get them to the Timberline Lodge. From there, they were airlifted to the hospital. Officials had not provided any details about their current condition.
Authorities said they are planning to launch another operation to recover the remains of the deceased individual when weather conditions improve.