A person found at 9,400 feet on Mount Hood has died, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Two climbers — one a volunteer with Portland Mountain Rescue — called 911 at 12:12 p.m. Tuesday to report they had found a fallen person in the Illumination Saddle area of the mountain.
A recovery team from Portland Mountain Rescue waits for a snowcat to take them further up Mount Hood to the spot where a person was found on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020.
Courtesy of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office
According to Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Sgt. Marcus Mendoza, the person was wearing ski boots and appeared to be a backcountry skier. They were alone when found. Volunteers with PMR stayed with the person, according to the sheriff’s office.
An Oregon Army National Guard helicopter arrived at the mountain but was ultimately called off after weighing the risk of the recovery mission. The person was pronounced dead shortly after 3:00 p.m. Tuesday.
According to Mendoza, volunteers with PMR and American Medical Response’s Reach and Treat team have recovered the remains and are making their way down the mountain.
No information about the identity of the victim has been released at this time.
This is the third person to die on Mount Hood in less than two weeks, and the first death this year on the Clackamas County side of the mountain. The fatality comes a week after the Clackamas County sheriff announced plans to change his department's relationship with a number of search-and-rescue organizations that operate within their jurisdiction, including Portland Mountain Rescue.
“The sheriff’s office and the search-and-rescue coordinators, we maintain a great working relationship with these teams — with AMR Reach and Treat and with Portland Mountain Rescue — as we have for years,” Mendoza said.