Woman Survives Several Hundred Foot Fall on Mt. Hood, Saved by Heroic Portland Mountain Rescue Team

Leah Brown is a 36-year-old woman who is lucky to be alive today. On a clear Saturday morning,  November 26,  2023,  Leah was climbing the South Side route on Mt. Hood, Oregon's highest peak. Just before noon,  she slipped and fell several hundred feet, tumbling down a steep and icy slope.

Photo Credit: Portland Mountain Rescue and Clackamas County Sheriff's Office

Leah's heart hammered in her chest,  each beat echoing in her ears as she bounced wildly off the rocks,  flung through the air like a ragdoll. She thought for sure this was the end. Miraculously,  Leah came to a stop on a rocky ledge,  bruised and battered but alive.

She was in serious trouble,  though. She was injured,  alone,  and hundreds of feet from the main climbing route. With no cell service on the mountain,  Leah knew her only hope was to wait for someone to see her. "My sense of time for that chunk…it's really not there," she said. "That's the part I don't remember all of it."

Luckily,  a group of Portland Mountain Rescue volunteers were just below her on the climbing route. They had heard the sound of her fall and looked up to see her lying on the ledge. "It was like something out of a movie,"  said Mark Johnson,  a PMR team leader. "One minute she was there,  and the next,  she was gone,  disappearing into the abyss."

Hearing Leah's cries,  the rescuers sprang into action to save her.They knew it wouldn't be easy or safe,  but they had to get her out of there. The terrain was treacherous,  and the weather was starting to turn.

They wouldn't give up on leah. No matter what,  they were going to get her back safe. Using ropes and a litter,  they carefully rappelled down to Leah's position. They patched her up as best they could,  then started the brutal trek back up the mountain..

It was a ten-hour ordeal,  but the rescuers never gave up. They finally reached the top of the mountain just before sunset,  carrying Leah to safety.

Leah was treated at a local hospital for her injuries,  which included a broken leg, several broken ribs,  and a concussion. But she is alive and expected to make a full recovery.

""I owe them my life," she told KION. "I wouldn't have made it off without them."

An interview with KION revealed that mountain climbing has been a passion of Brown's for years. She's determined to get back on the slopes after recovery,  taking "baby steps". "I might snowshoe hike first and like,  go back to the bunny hill. But no, I’m not not done,"  she said. "I love going up them, I love going down them. I like going around them. That’s my happy place."

It was a tough rescue,  but the Portland Mountain Rescue team rose to the occasion and brought everyone back safely. Their quick thinking,  teamwork,  and dedication saved Leah's life.

Yikes,  that sounds scary! It just goes to show you have to be prepared for anything in the wild. And it makes you realize how amazing those volunteer search and rescue teams are – they're out there helping people all the time!

Leah's fall could have easily been a tragedy. But thanks to the brave men and women of the Portland Mountain Rescue team,  it became a story of hope and survival.