MT. BARING—At approximately 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 19, Search and Rescue (SAR) deputies with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a BASE jumper who was unresponsive after jumping from the 6,127-foot summit of Mt. Baring. A companion, who had jumped shortly after the individual, reported hearing a crash and spotted the subject’s open parachute near the 4,000-foot level but was unable to see the individual.
SAR began a complex and highly technical recovery operation that took place over the next three days. The individual, a 40-year-old male, was located deceased in an extremely steep and hazardous section of the mountain’s north face, making direct access impossible and requiring a carefully coordinated effort between multiple specialized teams.
The operation began with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Air Support Unit using SnoHawk1 to search the face of the mountain. The following morning, a more in-depth aerial search led to the parachute being identified around the 4,150 foot level, which confirmed the need for a technical ground recovery.
Everett Mountain Rescue Unit and the Helicopter Rescue Team joined the mission to plan and execute the recovery. Given the location’s remoteness and vertical drop, SnoHawk10 was utilized to a staging point roughly 600 feet above the subject’s location. Over several hours, they rappelled down steep rock terrain, installed anchors, and worked to pack the victim for aerial extraction. Conditions required careful rope management and strategic anchor placement to minimize exposure to rockfall hazards.
Once the victim was successfully recovered, the Air Support Unit coordinated a long line recovery using a system approximately 800 feet in length, which was the longest such operation flown by the team to date. The flight crew executed a precise extraction, lifting the individual away from the cliff face and safely lowering the load onto a designated landing area near the base of the mountain.
The victim’s body was hoist extracted from the location and flown to Skykomish Airfield where the Snohomish County Medical Examiner took custody of him. The Medical Examiner will provide positive identification of the decedent, as well as determine the cause and manner of death.
This mission required extensive planning, aerial precision, and rope rescue expertise. It highlighted the collaborative effort between Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, the Air Support Unit, the Helicopter Rescue Team, and the Everett Mountain Rescue Unit. Without the technical skill and coordination of these teams, such a recovery would not have been possible in the dangerous terrain of Mt. Baring.
Source: Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
One Response
We would like to express our sin and deepest thanks for the heroic efforts made to retrieve the body of our son. We pray for your safety and reward in the extraordinary efforts made for his recovery from that mountain. We are very grateful.