They successfully climbed up Mount Shuksan, but the descent proved more treacherous

A man was airlifted Saturday morning and taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with multiple injuries after he took a “long, tumbling fall” of at least 30 to 40 feet as he and the group he was hiking with returned from a successful summit of Mount Shuksan.

The Bellingham Mountain Rescue Council’s Chris Ellis, who served as one of two operations leads on the rescue, told The Bellingham Herald on Monday that an emergency locator beacon sent out a distress call at approximately 2:30 a.m.

The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office contacted Bellingham Mountain Rescue, which immediately mobilized a team of three to the remote area in the North Cascades. A backup team of three was at the Lake Ann Trailhead and another team waited on standby.

After trail running approximately six miles, Ellis said, the team contacted the victim at approximately 7:30 or 8 a.m.

The patient, who Ellis said was believed to have been from Canada, suffered serious injuries to his head and neck when he apparently fell while he and his group of four were attempting to descend the Fisher Chimneys at approximately 1 or 2 a.m. after a successful summit of the 9,131-foot Mount Shuksan on Friday.

His name was not available.

“We decided then that it was time to radio (Naval Air Station) Whidbey and wait for the helicopter,” Ellis said. “We were worried about stability with his injuries.

“If you remember, the weather was coming in Saturday, so we were a little concerned the window was closing and we wouldn’t be able to lift him out with the helicopter. Then we would have to carry him out, which is really difficult and takes about 12 people when they’re back in that far with that type of terrain.”

Fortunately, the Navy helicopter crew arrived at approximately 9 a.m. and successfully lifted the patient from the 5,500 feet level where he was found, NAS Whidbey spokesman Tom Mills told The Herald Monday.

“I was just looking at the reports, and they said overall, the mission when very smooth,” Mills said. This was one of 56 rescue missions helicopter crews from Whidbey have made this year, he said.

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 11:20 AM.