LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- A Eugene man is dead after a fall on Saturday in the Sisters Wilderness.
The Lane County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue says 37-year-old Brian Jones of Eugene fell while climbing the North Sister, near the eastern Lane County border.
Search and Rescue crews say Jones fell around 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 24th, 2011 while hiking along a trail on North Sister around 9000 feet elevation.
“Somewhere along the line, he lost his footing or a rock came out from underneath him,” says Deputy Paul Vitus of the Lane County Sheriff's Office.
Rescue crews say Jones fell around 500 feet dow the west face of the mountain, near the summit. Deputies say the area is extremely technical terrain with loose footing in some places and significant steep climbing and hiking in different portions.
A friend that Jones was hiking with witnessed his fall and called 9-1-1.
Search and Rescue crews dispatched an Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crew, locating Jones and confirming that he was deceased. Crews were unable to reach him by air or ground crews due to high winds around 50 to 60 miles-an-hour and white-out snow conditions.
“We're going to continue to watch the weather.. Most of all of the other rescues we've had has been resolved except for this one. We'll watch the weather for a while and see if we can get some good weather, at least try to make an attempt to get back in there to recover him, for closure to the family,” says Deputy Vitus.
Pictures on Facebook show Jones was an avid outdoorsman who liked to hike and fish. Jones had hiked the Sisters Wilderness before, as recent as last year.
Friends say they are trying to establish some kind of memorial fund in Jones name now, for his wife and three children.
Lane County Search and Rescue says this weekend significantly tapped the volunteer resources it relies on. Crews also responded to two water rescues on Saturday, along with another hiking fall incident in Oakridge, where a Lane County woman in her 40's fell nearly 700 feet, breaking her back in the process, according to Sheriff's Office Deputies.
