A 32-year-old Army Special Forces soldier, who fell 100 feet while training on Pinnacle Peak near Mount Rainier, was airlifted to an Army hospital Friday.
The soldier, a member of the Army’s 1st Special Forces Group, broke his leg in the fall during mountaineering practice in Mount Rainier National Park, according to a U.S. Navy statement released Wednesday.
Whidbey Island Naval Air Station officials received the call to help in the rescue around 10:50 a.m. Saturday. Crews brought the man aboard a MH-60S helicopter around 12:20 p.m. and took him to Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
Pinnacle Peak is south of Mount Rainier near Reflection Lake. The peak, at about 6,500 feet, is snowbound this time of year.
The 1st Special Forces Group is based at JBLM. The special operations group focuses on internal defense and counterterrorism.
Spokespeople for the Army, the naval air station and the national park did not immediately respond to a reporter’s inquiries.
The naval air base near Oak Harbor has conducted nine search and rescue missions this year.
