The boulder was estimated to weigh 16,000 pounds. Photo: Clackamas Fire // Facebook
A climber is expected to recover after being pinned by a massive boulder in Oregon. Saving the climber, who was not named, required a complex rescue effort, involving technical rescuers, air medical crews and a specialized surgical team.
The incident occurred near Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. As Clackamas Fire detailed in a social media post, on Sunday, May 24, their Technical Rescue Team responded to a mutual aid request from Hoodland Fire to assist with the rescue of an injured climber. They arrived on the scene to find the climber pinned under what they estimated to be a 16,000-pound boulder which had become dislodged during a minor rock slide. A crowd of bystanders had attempted to free the victim, but were unable to move the massive stone.
“The climber was conscious and able to communicate, but the nature of the accident and potential severity of the person’s injuries called for a sophisticated response,” wrote Clackamas Fire. “As a group of Clackamas Fire’s highly trained rescuers worked to construct a system to lift the boulder from the patient, others contacted LifeFlight and OHSU to activate a specialized field surgical team. LifeFlight dispatched an aircraft to the scene and sent a second helicopter to the landing pad at OHSU. While rescuers labored in challenging conditions to remove the boulder, physicians and surgeons at OHSU quickly assembled medical equipment and loaded it onboard a LifeFlight helicopter in a remarkable display of collaboration.”
Around 12:30 p.m., the Technical Rescue Team freed the climber and moved the alpinist to a waiting helicopter for transport to a local hospital. There, the climber is being treated and expected to recover.
