This past Thursday, the police received a call from a climber on the summit of Mt. Hood that had become stranded. Oregon search and rescue coordinator Scott Lucas told KGW-TV that "The Clackamas County Sheriff notified us that [the climber] had gone to the summit of Mount Hood because he was going to end his life up there, and then he changed his mind."
A six-man rescue team was dispatched to find the man, but upon reaching him on the 11,250-foot summit, hot conditions made it unsafe for the team to make a safe descent down. The Oregon Army National Guard were called in, but due to this warm air and high elevation, the usual Blackhawk helicopter couldn't be used. Instead, pilot Donald Ford and his crew landed the rear wheels of the huge Chinook helicopter in a rare and dangerous maneuver, called a "Pinnacle." We're glad everyone made it down from the mountain safely.
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