A teen summiting Oregon's Mount Hood fell 500 feet Monday, suffering a leg injury before crews undertook an hourslong rescue operation.
The Clackamas County' Sheriff's Office got a call at about 9 a.m. that the 16-year-old had plummeted from the Pearly Gates area of Mount Hood down to Devil’s Kitchen.
The climber was with a group, who reported to authorities that he was in stable condition but had injured his leg.
"Weather conditions are currently clear, but can change quickly," the sheriff's office shared at the beginning of the rescue. "Due to the location and elevation of about 10,500 ft, the rescue is expected to take several hours."
Several agencies responded and reached the climber at about 1 p.m., working through a period of fog and temperatures in the mid-30s.
Crews splinted the climber's leg as soon as they reached the scene, and then began making their way down the mountain. They were met with an ambulance at the bottom.
Mount Hood is the highest mountain in Oregon at 11,239 feet, and one of the most-climbed mountains in the world, according to the sheriff's office. The county sheriff's search-and-rescue team makes about 70 rescues there a year.
