Coast Guard saves man who fell 800 feet into Oregon volcanic crater

A 2017 file photo showing a rescue at Crater Lake in Oregon.
(Image credit: National Park Service via AP)

A man was rescued Monday afternoon by the Coast Guard after he fell 800 feet into Oregon's Crater Lake, officials announced Tuesday.

Crater Lake National Park rangers called the Coast Guard at 3:47 p.m. to report the accident, and "the aircrew was hovering above the injured man within 15 minutes of arriving on scene," the Coast Guard said in a statement. Using a rope, they were able to hoist the man out of the volcanic crater and into the helicopter. The Coast Guard did not share the man's identity, the extent of his injuries, or how he fell into the crater.

Crater Lake National Park released a statement in May urging visitors to stay back from the edge of the caldera. "A few times every year, visitors get too close and fall, often resulting in severe injury or death," the park said. "Rocks and snow near the edge of the caldera are unstable and may give way without warning. Overhangs of snow called cornices build up over the winter, and it might look like you're standing on solid ground when you're actually standing on a thin layer of snow hanging over air."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.