PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)– The two individuals that fell 200 feet on Mount Hood on Sunday have been identified by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
Lei Wang, 50, of Renton, Wash. was transported off the mountain and taken to an area hospital for treatment. Pradnya Mohite, 34, of Issaquah, Wash. was declared deceased.
The search-and-rescue mission for Wang and Mohite began Sunday and lasted into Monday. The sheriff’s office said the climbers were in the Leuthold Couloir area of Mount Hood when they fell shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday — the Leuthold Couloir is a long, steep chute on the west side of Mt. Hood.
The rescue mission encountered challenging conditions while working to reach Wang and Mohite. Crews encountered deep snow and avalanche conditions, with winds blowing between 50 and 70 mph.
Wang was able to call 911 using a cell phone and used a Garmin inReach device to notify an emergency contact.
Sunday night, rescuers tried crossing the upper Reid Glacier and climbing the couloir to reach the injured climbers, but they were unsuccessful. The strong winds were knocking rescuers off their feet and blowing heavy sheets of snow, creating a dangerous avalanche risk.
Improved visibility on Monday allowed a team of rescuers to reach the two climbers. They had to summit the mountain and then descend the west side to Wang and Mohite’s position above the Hourglass bottleneck at the top of the Leuthold Couloir.
However, when rescuers reached the climbers, they discovered that Mohite was dead and Wang was in critical condition.
Due to the severe avalanche hazard and poor conditions, rescuers decided to leave Mohite on the mountain. They plan to conduct a recovery mission when conditions improve.
Wang was evacuated off the mountain on Monday evening. The climber arrived at Timberline at approximately 6:50 p.m. and was taken by paramedics and EMTs to a hospital for treatment.