Police ID Fallen Hogsback Climber As 35-Year-Old Portland Man

MT. HOOD, OR — Police on Wednesday identified the man who died from injuries sustained in a fall from Hogsback on Mt. Hood Tuesday morning as 35-year-old Portlander Miha Šumi.

Šumi reportedly fell 700 to 1,000 feet just before 10:30 a.m. Feb. 13 after slipping on ice near the summit, some 10,000 feet in elevation. Another member of Šumi's climbing group, 36-year-old Chatchay Thongthap, called 911.

Activating a search a rescue operation, Clackamas County Sheriff's Officials received help from seven different agencies and multiple volunteer groups.

While rescuers were mobilizing, another climber in the area was able to reach Šumi and begin performing CPR. Quickly, that climber was assisted by others in the area, all of whom collectively administered CPR for roughly an hour and a half.

Meanwhile, Šumi's group remained sheltered in place due to increasingly treacherous conditions on the mountain. And to complicate matters, search and rescue crews kept losing contact with the group, which reportedly only had one cell phone between them.

As rescue operations ramped up, with snow cats waiting to bring down the climbers and rescuers scurrying up the mountain as quickly as they safely could, an Oregon Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter was deployed from Salem.

The helicopter, crewed by a pilot, copilot, paramedic, and hoist operator, reached Šumi right around 1 p.m. About half an hour later, Šumi was loaded into the helicopter and transported to Emanuel hospital — but Šumi succumbed to his injuries before he arrived, police said.

Back on the mountain, search and rescuers reached the sheltered group around 2:30 p.m. and found another man, Dan Parks, who was not part of the original group, was also dealing with a minor fall-related injury.

With rescuers laying rope lines, the climbers began descending the mountain.

Shortly after the climbers' descent began, one of the climbers from Šumi's group, a 32-year-old Beaverton woman, became unable to move, police said, noting she required a sled to be let down from the mountain.

The first of the rescued climbers reached Timberline Lodge by about 6:40 p.m., police said. The Beaverton woman arrived roughly 30 minutes after.

"Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Miha Šumi," Clackamas Sheriff Craig Roberts said in a statement. "Thanks to all the search groups for their tremendous work on this complex search-and-rescue mission. Every SAR mission is a team effort requiring help and careful coordination from teams of dedicated first-response partners and volunteers."

The Southside route along Hogsback, around which Tuesday's activity was centered, has reportedly seen dozens of accidents over the years, of which the most well-known is likely the 2002 rescue helicopter crash caught on live television

Dozens of people have been injured or killed while climbing around Hogsback since the mid-1990s.

This post has been updated with additional information from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office

Image via Clackamas County Sheriff's Office