Hiker rescued from bottom of avalanche after 1,200-foot fall in Olympic National Forest

A hiker was rescued from a ravine in Washington state’s Olympic National Forest over the weekend, after falling more than 1,200 feet down an avalanche on Mt. Ellinor, officials said. Rescuers found the 30-year-old man at the bottom of a large avalanche runout, suffering from symptoms of hypothermia in addition to a broken arm and “significant abrasions,” according to the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. 

The regional U.S. Navy branch said one of its search and rescue teams responded to a call from the man’s hiking partner, who had reported being unable to find or contact him at around 6:20 p.m. on Saturday. The naval team found “no trace” of the hiker while surveying the area near the top of Mt. Ellinor, a popular hiking spot in Olympic National Forest with challenging trails. Elevation is almost 6,000 feet at the mountain’s summit.

After searching near the top of Mt. Ellinor, the crew moved to lower ground. The Naval Air Station said rescuers began to look for the hiker at the bottom of a large avalanche runout, which stretched some 1,000 feet down slope from the mountain peak. During that part of the search, crew members noticed a flashing light near a boulder field just below the runout. 

They located the hiker in a spot vulnerable to more avalanches or rock falls, so the rescue operation was carried out quickly. Rescuers pulled him up into their helicopter and transported the hiker to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Search and rescue crews from the Naval Air Station Whidbey island have conducted 44 missions in 2023, including six searches, four medical evacuations and 33 rescues overall, the station said.

Crews out of Oregon performed a similar, although notably “complex,” rescue mission recently after a woman fell hundreds of feet while hiking on Mt. Hood. The woman, identified as Leah Brown by CBS affiliate KOIN, slipped and descended one of the slopes during a notoriously dangerous glacier climb up the mountain’s South Side. She was rescued during a mission that involved multiple agencies and took about seven hours.