'I owe them my life': Woman shares how she survived several-hundred foot fall on Mt. Hood

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Leah Brown is lucky to be alive.

On Saturday, she climbed Mt. Hood the same way she had for years. But this time, she had a near-death experience when something went wrong on the south side route. She fell several hundred feet.

“It was one of those just, like, accidents that happen, just like something that should have stuck, didn't stick,” Brown told KOIN 6.

Fortunately, Portland Medical Rescue saw her fall, treated her, and brought her down the mountain. It took seven hours.

“My sense of time for that chunk…it's really not there,” she said. “That's the part I don't remember all of it.”

According to Portland Medical Rescue, “using complex rope systems, rescuers transported [Brown] in a litter to the Hogsback snow ridge, where she was transferred to a different litter and taken down the mountain to the Timberline parking lot.”

Authorities say they arrived at Timberline at 9:30 p.m. before taking her to a local hospital. Brown, at age 35, suffered a concussion and several bruises – but remarkably, no broken bones.

“I owe them my life,” she said. “I wouldn't have made it off without them.”

Even during her recovery period, Brown said she already knows she'll return to Mt. Hood, adding that she’ll likely take “baby steps.”

“I might snowshoe hike first and like, go back to the bunny hill. But no, I'm not not done,” she said. “I love going up them, I love going down them. I like going around them. That's my happy place.”

Starting in January 2024, a new system will require climbers at 9,500 feet to carry a permit with them. Mt. Hood spokesperson Heather Ibsen said its purpose is to increase protections on the trails.

“We have almost 10,000 people a year climb Mt. Hood,” Ibsen said. “And we need more staff to do a better job patrolling and climber education and safety information producing more conditions reports.”

Portland Medical Rescue warns that the mountain should be climbed with caution in mind, saying it is “not a beginner mountain — especially in winter conditions.”

The short days and lower temperatures mean that the snow tends to be very hard and icy, and the route conditions tend to be much steeper and technical,” PMR said. “Also, descending the mountain in icy conditions is much more difficult than ascending. Only those with expert mountaineering and ice-climbing skills should attempt Mt. Hood in winter, especially when there have been long dry spells with no precipitation. Appropriate and thorough training is critical.”