As thousands of climbers converge on Mt. Rainier this spring and summer, some will run into trouble.
Washington state has more mountain rescues than any other state.
One in five of them happen within our borders.
The Army Reserve is often called in to help with its Chinook helicopters. They are big, powerful platforms that are able reach high altitudes in poor weather conditions.
Chief Warrant Officer Richard Bovey is one of the pilots.
“It’s an inherently dangerous mission and we take it very seriously,” he said.
In the last 15 years, Army crews have pulled 75 people off the mountain.
Often they rappel down ropes, dig into the slippery landscape, and then hoist the wounded up in litters.
“To allow somebody to go home that wouldn’t have been otherwise is very rewarding,” Bovey said.
It's risky business. Two years ago, park ranger Nick Hall died on the mountain while preparing climbers for their evacuation. He slipped and fell.
The Army said it always tries to mitigate the risks, while learning skills that can be transferred to other military missions. .
“The value we see from it is the ability to operate in an environment that I can’t simulate,” Bovey said.
The choppers are expensive to operate, an estimated $9,000 per hour. The Army doesn’t charge for rescue work, because it sees value in each flight.
“We have pilots operating in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan, myself included, and it pays huge dividends for a pilot to see that environment before he’s in it for real,” Bovey said.