2
Photo Info

Injured climber rescued by helicopter at Mount Rainier National Park

National Park Service Press Release | July 24, 2015

Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 53 seconds.

Crew members prepare a contract helicopter for a short-haul rescue mission on Mount Rainier near Little Tahoma, June 20, 2015. NPS Photo
An injured climber was rescued from Mount Rainier by helicopter on Monday, July 20, after he fell into a crevasse and broke his leg.
The 54-year-old climber was a member of a team that departed Camp Schurman on the Emmons Glacier route just after 10 p.m. on Sunday, July 19. Around midnight, he fell into a crevasse at an elevation of approximately 10,400 feet on “The Corridor,” a ramp that forms a portion of the route.
A patient and rescue ranger arrive at a staging area near Little Tahoma after being flown at the end of a helicopter’s long line from a less accessible area of Mount Rainier, June 20, 2015. NPS Photo
The climber was extracted from the crevasse by other members of his team, who then contacted National Park Service rangers, reporting that the patient was stable, but in serious pain. Because of his location and the severity of his injuries, rangers elected to perform a helicopter short-haul rescue of the climber.
Short-haul is a rescue technique in which a rescuer and patient are suspended below the helicopter, in this case on a 200-foot line. It is used in situations where rugged terrain makes it impossible for a helicopter to land. Although short-haul rescues have been conducted on Mount Rainier in the past, this year is the first year that Mount Rainier and North Cascades National Parks have had a dedicated short-haul rescue helicopter on contract for the climbing season.
A climbing party is seen through a helicopter’s windshield during a reconnaissance flight for a short-haul rescue mission, June 20, 2015. The short-haul technique is used in areas where rugged terrain makes it impossible for a helicopter to land safely. NPS Photo
The helicopter arrived on site at approximately 8 a.m. and staged at Camp Schurman. After the aircraft was configured for the mission, two rangers were short-hauled to the site of the injured climber. The patient was transferred into a “screamer suit” (a type of rescue harness) and short-hauled with one of the rangers down to Camp Schurman. After the second ranger was flown back to the staging area, the patient was moved to an internal seat in the helicopter and flown to the T-Woods helibase near Ashford, Wash., where he was transferred to the care of a county ambulance.
The rescue was not the first helicopter short-haul medical evacuation at Mount Rainier this season. On June 20, two climbers from different parties were rescued in two separate short-hauls from elevations of 12,400 and 11,800 feet on Emmons Glacier. In the first case, the female climber was suffering from life-threatening high-altitude pulmonary edema. In the second case, another female climber had experienced an ankle fracture that prevented her from moving down the glacier.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HAI Heli-Expo 2024 Recap

Notice a spelling mistake or typo?

Click on the button below to send an email to our team and we will get to it as soon as possible.

Report an error or typo

Have a story idea you would like to suggest?

Click on the button below to send an email to our team and we will get to it as soon as possible.

Suggest a story