HOOD RIVER, Ore. — A 55-year-old oncologist descending from the summit of Mount Hood died after a rock fell from the snow and knocked him downhill, authorities said.
Dr. Gary Lee of Eugene, an experienced climber, was with his son, Devin, Sunday afternoon when a rock “dislodged from the ice above” and hit him at about 9,000 feet on the 11,239-foot peak, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
He fell about 1,000 feet before coming to rest in an area of rock and ice above Eliot Glacier, the sheriff’s office said.
Lee specialized in palliative care for terminally ill patients, his practice’s Web site said. He was medical director of hospice at Sacred Heart Medical Center. He had practiced in Eugene since 1984.
The area in which Lee died is described as vertical snow, ice and rock. Workers removed his body from the dangerously steep area Monday.
The climber’s body was spotted Sunday evening by helicopter crews from the Oregon National Guard. The sheriff’s office said authorities were able to confirm his condition from the air.
Mountaineers waited until Monday afternoon to recover the body in hopes that cooler temperatures would keep the snow firm enough to hold rocks in place.
Steve Rollins of Portland Mountain Rescue said the work would be dangerous because of what he called the crumbling, “rotten rock” and softening snow that mark summer climbing on the volcanic peak.
“In many cases the rock is glued together with ash the consistency of toothpaste,” he said.
In December 2006, climber Kelly James of Texas died of hypothermia in the same area of the mountain. His body was later removed from a snow cave, but the bodies of the two other men in his climbing party, Brian Hall of Texas and Jerry Cooke of New York, were never found.
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