Man airlifted after 700-foot fall down Mount Hood [Video]

MOUNT HOOD, Ore. — A man was critically injured and had to be airlifted to a Portland hospital after he slipped and fell about 700 feet while climbing Mount Hood.

On Saturday, around 7:45 a.m., the 55-year-old climber, Chris Zwierzynski from Arizona, slipped while on the steep Old Chute route on Mount Hood’s south side, located at about an 11,200-foot elevation. 

Zwierzynski was unable to break his fall, tumbling about 700 feet into the Hot Rocks area and “sustaining multiple injuries,” according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. 

A few off-duty military medics, along with two Mount Hood National Forest climbing rangers in the area, saw the fall and descended to help. The rangers also provided first aid to Zwierzynski.

Clackamas County and Hood River County sheriff’s offices search and rescue coordinators activated a joint mission to perform an evacuation with Portland …