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1 Climber Dead, 1 Injured on Mt Hood's Sandy Glacier
Thursday, November 4, 2004
(Updated 11/5/04)
An early season climbing accident took the life of one mountaineer
and seriously injured another during a climb of the Sandy Headwall
on Mount Hood's northwest face.
It is not yet known exactly how the accident occurred, but the two men fell
300 to 500 feet from the Sandy Headwall route and slid at high speed into a
40-foot deep crevasse on the Sandy Glacier, near 8,500 feet in elevation.
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The least injured climber was able to place a cell phone call to
9-1-1 around 11:30 AM. Subsequently, the Clackamas County
Sheriff's Office launched a rescue mission and summoned Portland
Mountain Rescue and American Medical Response (AMR) shortly after noon.
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Click for larger view
Mission Reference Map
West Face of Mount Hood
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Initially, little was known about the climbers' location, but Steve
Rollins, a PMR rescue leader, was able to make direct phone contact
with the climbers and learned that they were near the Sandy Headwall - a
very remote area of Mount Hood (see map above). Rollins quickly
passed this information to the Sheriff's Office and advised the
mobilization of air support to reach the victims in the fastest possible time.
The first rescuers to reach the mountain were a PMR volunteer and
professionals from the AMR Reach and Treat (RAT) Team. RAT
Team paramedic Dave Mull and PMR rescuer Matt Cline received a sno-cat
ride to Illumination Saddle and proceeded to cross the Reid Glacier
and Yocum Ridge on foot in order to reach the scene. This process
took nearly five hours.
While the two-man team was traversing the mountain's West Face, a
UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from the Oregon Army National Guard 1042nd
Air Ambulance Unit ferried PMR rescuers Bob Brownback and Marty
Johnson from Timberline Lodge to the Sandy Glacier. The least
injured climber crawled out of the crevasse and successfully directed
the helicopter to the remote location. As Portland area residents
watched a live television feed from a Newschannel 8
helicopter, the PMR team and one National Guard medic were lowered
into the crevasse.
After discovering the other climber had no pulse, the rescuers performed
CPR until it was obvious that the patient could not be revived. The
cause of death is not yet known.
During this time, the Blackhawk returned with two AMR RAT Team paramedics
and the team's attention turned to the surviving climber. He was
suffering from multiple broken bones and other possible injuries, so the
rescuers packaged the man in a litter for transport to Portland. The
helicopter delivered the patient to Emanuel Hospital around 6:20 PM. He
is expected to completely recover from his injuries.
The body of the deceased climber, as well as the rescue teams, were air lifted
to Mount Hood's Timberline Lodge around 9:00 PM, bringing the more than
9-hour rescue mission to a close.
The 11,239-foot mountain recently received large accumulations of snow, but
the conditions at the time of the accident were relatively good for early
November. Both climbers were experienced.
Even though the victims were able to summon help using a cell phone, they
failed to register at the Timberline Lodge climbing register prior to their
climb. Had rescuers been unable to contact the man on his phone, it
would have been next to impossible to determine the location of the
accident. PMR encourages all climbers and hikers to complete the free
registration prior to entering the Mount Hood Wilderness. Registration
can help save a life should an accident occur.
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