Hiker slips and plunges 150 feet down cliff, Oregon rescuers say

A 41-year-old La Grande man slipped on a rock outcropping and plunged 150 feet off a cliff Saturday, May 14, Oregon rescuers reported.

A 911 caller reported the fall at 4:41 p.m. Pacific time on Merry-Go-Round Road, Union County Search & Rescue said in a news release.

Rescuers from several agencies responded and found the man seriously injured below the cliff, the release said.

They rigged a 500-foot-long rope system to pull him up a steep slope around the cliff, then took him to a nearby helicopter to be airlifted to a Boise, Idaho, trauma center.

The release did not indicate the man’s medical condition.

La Grande is a city of about 14,000 people in northeast Oregon near the Umatilla National Forest.

This story was originally published May 16, 2022 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Hiker slips and plunges 150 feet down cliff, Oregon rescuers say."