Three Hikers Injured on Mount Hood

Three hikers narrowly averted disaster on Oregon’s Mount Hood over the weekend.

Brian and Michelle Carlson, both of Portland, Or., were transported to a nearby hospital with injuries after tumbling down a slope while tethered together. Brian suffered a broken leg while Michelle suffered two broken ankles. Both are expected to make a full recovery.

KATU News reports that Portland Mountain Rescue personnel responded to the fall in the Hogsback area of Mt. Hood, a popular winter climbing spot located on the south side of the mountain. The search-and-rescue members were training in the area and witnessed the fall firsthand.

“They sort of rolled, somersaulted, cartwheeled, that type of thing. When you’re falling at a 50-degree slope angle, is is a pretty rapid fall and as you watch them kind of bounce down the mountain, you know there are going to be some pretty serious injuries,” Pearce Beissinger, a member of the rescue team, told KGW News.

A third climber, 29 year old Karthik Jambunathan, suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized.

Seven hikers have been killed on Mt. Hood since 2013.

Read more: KATU | KGW