Rescuers retrieved an injured climber from Mount Hood on Saturday evening, nearly 10 hours after first the report he had fallen from a ridge on the mountain's south side.

High winds hampered early attempts to retrieve the 35-year-old Portland man with a helicopter, the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said.

The fall was first reported just after 10 a.m. on Saturday. A sheriff's office official said earlier the man fell almost 200 feet near Hogsback, a snow ridge.

Rescuers found the 35-year-old an hour later in serious but stable condition, sheriff's office spokesman Deputy Hayden Sanders said. The man's name was not released because his family had not been notified of his injuries.

An Oregon Army National Guard helicopter made three attempts to reach the man, but winds of between 30 and 50 knots made for dangerous flying conditions. On the second attempt, the helicopter crew was able to lower a National Guard medic to the mountain to tend to the climber.

@oregonarmyguard Air Medic Evacuation Unit on scene in an effort to rescue the injured climber. More updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/IVnzAUGyc1 — Clackamas Sheriff (@ClackCoSheriff) May 27, 2018

Rescue crews ultimately carried the man partway down the mountain to an elevation that could be reached by a snow tractor, which carried the man the rest of the way to Timberline Lodge parking lot. A helicopter was waiting there to take him to a Portland hospital.

A fall in the Hogsback area killed one man in February and left several others stranded.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus