Mt. Hood Climber Seriously Injured Snowboarding From Hogsback

MT. HOOD, OR — For the third time in five days, rescuers on Mt. Hood were called into action. This time it was to rescue a climber who had tried snowboarding down from the Hogsback snow ridge and ended up on the rocks deep inside the Devil's Kitchen fumarole.

A fumarole is caused when volcanic activity causes a vent to open the rock, spewing hot, toxic gases that carve out caverns beneath the snow that turn into deep holes.

The climber, a 28-year-old from Idaho, had been on the summit with friends. They made it down to the Hogsback snow ridge whose surface was a sheet of ice. Rather than climb, he attempted to snowboard down from the ridge.

The climber lost control and ended up in the fumarole a few hundred feet below the ridge. When he couldn't get out, his friends called 911.

Rescuers from the Hood River Sheriff's Office along with volunteers from Portland Mountain Rescue and the Hood River Crag Rats snapped into action.

Nearly two dozen made it to the scene. They broke into two teams. One team climbed above the fumarole and lowered a rescuer wearing a respirator and carrying gas monitors into the hole where he stabilized the climber.

Around midnight, they were able pull him from the hole and lower him onto a litter so he could be transported.

He was first brought to the top of the Palmer Ski Lift and the put on a snow cat that rushed him to an ambulance waiting at Timberline Lodge. He was hospitalized and is expected to make a complete recovery.

Deputies said that the three incidents should serve as reminders to people to make sure that they have the proper equipment and, if they're not experienced, they should consider hiring a guide to assist them.