Rescue efforts are ongoing this afternoon for a 52-year-old climber who slipped, and fell into the crater of Mount St. Helens yesterday, plummeting 1500 feet in the process. Apparently, Joseph Bohlig was preparing to have his photo taken when the snow shelf that he was standing on collapsed, sending him tumbling to the ground below. The climbing partner made it off the mountain safely and then called authorities for help, but the condition of Bohlig is unknown at this time, and they report that he is also without much of his gear and equipment.
Rescue teams were immediately scrambled to try to extract the fallen climber, but weather conditions deteriorated rapidly, forcing them to put off the attempt until today. As of this writing, they're still waiting to make that attempt, and a call has been put out to the Air Force to aid in the rescue, but conditions remain dangerous. If the skies clear however, a helicopter will be dispatched to the crater itself, and the extraction can be made fairly quickly, as the SAR teams know exactly where Bohlig is at.
Located in the state of Washington, Mount St. Helens stands 8365 feet in height and is a popular climb in all seasons. In fact, Bohlig himself is a veteran of the climb, having made the attempt more than 60 times. The became famous back in 1980, when it violently erupted, sending ash and magma flying for miles. It still has seismic and volcanic activity from time to time, but hasn't erupted since that time.
Lets hope conditions improve soon enough, and the SAR teams can do their thing.
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