GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. (AP) – One climber fell to his death and several others had to be rescued after conditions turned treacherous on Oregon’s tallest peak.
More than a half-dozen people had been climbing near Mount Hood’s peak when a climber fell about 1,000 feet, (304 meters) said Sgt. Brian Jensen, a Clackamas County sheriff’s office spokesman.
“One of the guys slipped,” said climber Quinn Talley of Welches, Oregon, who had been descending after summiting Tuesday morning. “At first he was just sliding and right before he disappeared, he started cartwheeling.”
Talley, who said he’s climbed the mountain about 20 times and has never seen worse conditions, said he tried to reach the man, but the ice was too dangerous.
“Normally, you like a frozen crust on snow so your crampons don’t ball up with snow, but this is different,” Talley said. “With the rain and freeze cycles, there’s something called rime ice … and it’s really loose and normally it’s just fluffy. But these were like dinner plates, hard ice dinner plates.”