Skamania County emergency crews were kept busy this weekend after responding to separate incidents involving a hiker, a kayaker, a climber and a skier.
Sheriff’s deputies were called out about 4:35 p.m. Friday to a report of a hiker with a head injury on Archer Mountain, six miles northwest of North Bonneville.
Wyatt Glaeser, 16, of Skamania told deputies he had fallen, hit his head, and was sitting on a ledge.
Skamania County Fire District 5 and Skamania County EMS responded along with deputies. Medical personnel reached Glaeser and stabilized him, then a helicopter hoisted him to safety. Glaeser was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center where he was treated and released.
Around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, the sheriff’s office received a 911 call reporting a kayaker had injured his back going over a waterfall in the Little White Salmon River near Underwood, about 12 miles east of Stevenson.
Deputies, Skamania County EMS and crews from Skamania County Fire District 1 and District 3 responded and found the victim at the bottom of a steep ravine, according to the sheriff’s office.
The injured person, Pirmin Dlugosch, 24, of Germany, was hoisted to safety by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew. Dlugosch was then taken to OHSU Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Witnesses said that Dlugosch had gone over a waterfall and hit the lower pool at an odd angle, causing him to injure his back.
Two more rescues were made Sunday.
At about 10:45 a.m. the sheriff’s office received a 911 call reporting that a rock climber had fallen about 50 feet from the Ozone climbing route, east of Washougal. Emergency crews used a rope system to reach the victim, Veda Carmony, 54, of Portland. Carmony was taken via LifeFlight helicopter to OHSU Hospital for injuries to her head and lower extremities. She was listed in serious condition Monday.
Finally, just before 5 p.m. rescuers were called to Mount St. Helens after a skier reported she was lost and in need of assistance.
Ashley Donkersloot, 28, of White Salmon told responders she had hiked up the mountain and was skiing down when she got separated from her group.
Deputies and members of the Volcano Rescue Team out of Yacolt began to talk to Donkersloot on the phone, directing her to the Climbers Bivouac, where she skied down to the search-and-rescue base, where she was subsequently reunited with her group. Donkersloot was not injured.
