Chinook helicopter carrying climber and six rescuers arrives in Welches. Chinook helicopter carrying climber and six rescuers arrives in Welches. Full story: https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/07/summit_rescue_underway_for_inj.html Posted by The Oregonian on Friday, July 13, 2018

A man who summited Mount Hood in the midst of what authorities describe as a suicide attempt was rescued from the mountain by

a

helicopter and will be heading to a hospital.

The climber was picked up by a Chinook helicopter around 2:55 p.m. and landed in Welches, according to Scott Lucas, state search and rescue coordinator. The climber had been on the mountain since Thursday and had six rescuers with him when he was taken off Oregon's tallest mountain.

The helicopter landed its two rear wheels on the mountain, and a plank was used for the rescuers and climber to walk into the copter, said Sgt. Sean Collins, a Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

Rescuers left the Chinook helicopter with the climber, who was walking alongside them.

He was led to an ambulance next to one of the dugouts of the baseball field at Welches Elementary School. He sat on a stretcher, then laid down and was loaded into the ambulance before it left.

Help available

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Multnomah County: 503-988-4888 or 1-800-716-9769

Clackamas County: 503-655-8585

Washington County: 503-291-9111

Southwest Washington: 1-800-626-8137 or 866-835-2755

The whole operation, from the time the group took off from Welches until they returned, took 32 minutes and 4 seconds.

According to Lucas, rescues from the mountain's summit are rare. The altitude for the operation was more than 11,000 feet.

"It's surreal," pararescuer Joshua Kruse said of the summit rescue. "You just have to trust that the pilot knows what he's doing and that everyone is on the same page."

Kruse said the most perilous thing about the rescue was keeping an eye on the helicopter blades. Because of the angle at which the Chinook landed, the blades were about chest height, rather than high above rescuers' heads, so rescuers had to duck to get back into the aircraft.

The sheriff's office said the climber placed an emergency call Thursday, saying he planned to take his life. At some point he changed his mind. Authorities have not yet released the man's identity.

The sheriff's office contacted Portland Mountain Rescue on Thursday night for help in retrieving the man, said Steve Rollins, a rescue leader with Portland Mountain Rescue.

Rescuers got to Timberline about 2:30 a.m. and rode a snow tractor up part of the mountain, Rollins said. They then began to climb, aiming to get to the Hogsback area near the summit by 4 - 5 a.m.

A Hood River County Sheriff's Office airplane spotted the climber, Rollins said, and rescuers found the man on the summit plateau. Rollins said that as far as rescuers know, the climber spent the night on the upper mountain.

Conditions on the mountain are dangerous. Rollins said the south side of the mountain has crevasses, it's icier than it is earlier in the year, and there's lots of rockfall.

There was a high of 52 degrees predicted on the summit Friday, according to mountain-forecast.com. It was clear, and there were 20 mph winds, according to the website's forecast.

High temperatures are generally foreboding for Mount Hood climbers, as rockfall tends to increase as snow and ice melt.

"This time of day, this time of year, the mountain is just falling apart," said 304th Rescue Squadron member Phil Cole, who was commanding the mission from the ground. "You've got falling ice, falling rock to watch out for."

Portland is home to Lines for Life, a nonprofit devoted to suicide prevention throughout the Pacific Northwest. It operates a suicide prevention line that is answered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It can be reached at 800-273-8255 or by texting "273TALK" to 839863.

Everton Bailey Jr., Jim Ryan and Andrew Theen of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report.

— Eder Campuzano

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