Hiker found dead on Mount St helens

Hiker Joseph Bohlig dies after falling into volcano

* From: NewsCore
* February 17, 2010 12:19PM

Mount St Helens looms over Spirit Lake, still full of debris from the volcano's 1980 eruption / AP Source: AP

* Hiker dead after rescue efforts delayed
* Believed to be alive after initial fall
* Fell 457 metres into volcano's crater

A MAN who fell into the crater of north-west America's Mount St Helens volcano died after rescuers were forced to abandon their bid to save him overnight, it emerged today.

The 53-year-old's body was recovered by a US Navy helicopter after rescue attempts began again this morning.

He was named as Joseph Bohlig, KPTV reported.

He toppled into the crater - falling up to 1500 ft (457m) over rocks and ice then landing on a 70-degree snowy slope near the bottom - after a ledge he stood on near the rim collapsed on Monday.

He was believed to be alive when he landed, although his condition was not known, with rescuers saying they could hear him blowing an emergency whistle.

Attempts to reach him by helicopter on Monday afternoon and evening were called off due to unsafe winds and the approach of darkness, forcing Bohlig to spend the night in the crater.


A medic was airlifted to the crater floor but was unable to climb to Bohlig and had to be flown out again.

Lt. Brooks Crawford of the US Coast Guard - one of two pilots that tried to rescue Bohlig on Monday - told KPTV the victim was buried in snow.

"We were 300 feet (91m) above him," Crawford said. "(The other pilot and the rescue swimmer) saw his head, arms and legs and saw no movement whatsoever. No signaling, nothing to indicate that he was in good shape."

Bohlig had climbed Mount St Helens 68 times, according to the Skamania County sheriff's office. Officials believe he may have been posing for a photo to be taken by his partner when the ledge gave way.

Mount St Helens - famous for a deadly explosion in 1980 which killed 57 people - is an active volcano in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest of Oregon, in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire geological region.

Thousands of people climb to the crater's rim each year, but permits are required to go above 4800 feet (1463m).

A warning on the US Forest Service Web site said the crater rim is "unstable and can be hazardous at any time".