Climbers rescued from North Sister avalanche

Two injured hikers caught in an avalanche on the southeast side of the North Sister were rescued late in the afternoon on Sunday, May 22, according to Lt. Michael Johnston of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.

Nancy Miller, 40, and James A. Ellers, 39, both of Portland, were seriously injured during an avalanche on Thayer Glacier started by their crossing the glacier, Johnston said.

Both Miller and Ellers were transported to the Sisters airport shortly after 6 p.m. by a Blackhawk helicopter from the 727th Oregon National Guard unit stationed in Salem.

Miller, with the more serious injuries, was airlifted to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend by Air Life of Oregon. Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District ambulance transported Ellers to the medical center, according to Lt. Johnston.

David Byrne, Jr., 39, and James Brewer, 50, also of Portland, who were hiking with Miller and Ellers, were not injured.

The four had driven to the Pole Creek trailhead southwest of Sisters Saturday, camped there that night, and then hiked into the Three Sisters Wilderness Sunday morning. All wore safety locators carried by mountain climbers and hikers traveling over snowfields, although the locators were not needed to locate and rescue the individuals, Johnston said.

A cell phone call from the climbers to Deschutes County 911 at 1:25 p.m. Sunday initiated the rescue. The climbers reported that they had been caught in an avalanche and that two of their party of four were injured.

The avalanche did not actually bury the hikers, according to sources familiar with the rescue operation. The snow slide was full of chunks of snow that severely battered the hikers as it rolled into them.

Sisters EMTs, along with Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search & Rescue and Camp Sherman Hasty Team members were quickly mobilized and transported to the scene by Air Life. Later, the two Air National Guard Blackhawk helicopters from Salem joined the rescue effort.

Miller and Ellers were each carried by rescuers to the waiting helicopters, which lifted them off the mountain, despite tricky winds.

Air Life will assist in rescue operations at no cost when no other helicopters are available, Johnston explained. Once they start transporting a patient, they do seek to recover costs.

Emergency service agencies established an incident command center with radio communications and key personnel at the Sisters Airport during the rescue effort. About 30 people from the range of agencies participated in the rescue, Johnston said

No total cost of rescue operations was available, Johnston said. However, the policy of the Sheriff’s Office is not to bill the individuals for these costs.

During the afternoon, three additional avalanches were reported in the area.

Two of these were visible from Sisters.

The weather was clear and extremely windy on the mountain. Snow conditions were wet and soft with the recent rains followed by a warming trend.