Skamania crews assist injured, lost adventurers

Skamania County emergency crews were kept busy this weekend after responding to both a hiker and a climber who fell and injured themselves, an injured kayaker and a lost skier. Deputies were called out on Friday at about 4:35 p.m. when a hiker on Archer Mountain, six miles northwest of North Bonneville, called 911, according to the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office. The hiker, Wyatt Glaeser, 16, of Skamania, had been hiking when he fell and struck his head, the sheriff’s office reported. He told deputies he was sitting on a ledge and needed assistance getting down. Deputies along with crews from Skamania County Fire District 5 and Skamania County EMS responded and a search and rescue was initiated. Medical personnel reached Glaeser and stabilized him while a helicopter was used to hoist him to an awaiting ambulance. Glaeser was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center where he was treated and released. The next day around 3:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office received a 911 call reporting a kayaker had injured his back going over a fall 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 to the area and found the victim at the bottom of a steep ravine, according to the sheriff’s office. Search and rescue volunteers helped and medical personnel were able to reach the injured person, Pirmin Dlugosch, 24, of Germany. The US Coast Guard helicopter crew responded and hoisted Dlugosch out of the ravine, after which he was taken to OHSU hospital for treatment, where he was treated and released, the sheriff’s office said. Witnesses said that Dlugosch had gone over a waterfall and hit the lower pool at an odd angle, causing him to injure his back. On Sunday, emergency crews were called out again at about 10:45 a.m. when they received a 911 call from someone reporting that a rock climber had fallen about 50 feet  from Ozone climbing route just east of Washougal, the sheriff’s office reported. Emergency crews responded and used a rope system to reach the victim 54-year-old Portland resident Veda Carmony, according to the sheriff’s office. Carmony was taken via LifeFlight to an area hospital for injuries to her head and lower extremities. She was listed in serious condition. Just before 5 p.m. later that day, the sheriff’s office was called to Mount St. Helens after they got a report that a skier was lost and needed assistance. Ashley Donkersloot, 28, of White Salmon told officials 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 Donkersloot on the phone, directing her to the climbers bivouac, where she skied down to the search and rescue base, the sheriff’s office said. Donkersloot was not injured and reunited with her group.