Mount St. Helens, Washington (CNN) — Rescue crews in Washington state will try again Tuesday to get to a hiker who fell 1,500 feet into the crater of Mount St. Helens volcano.
The 52-year-old hiker was with another hiker Monday afternoon at the summit, near the edge of the crater, when the accident occurred, according to Dave Cox, public information officer with the Skamania County, Washington, Sheriff’s Department.
The man was posing for a picture when he fell into the volcano, said Chief Tom McDowell, who headed up one of the rescue teams.
“Someone was taking a picture of him, so they could get the mountains in the background,” McDowell told CNN affiliate KATU.
The man also had taken off his jacket because he had gotten hot during the climb.
“When he fell he would not have had a lot of padding or a lot of insulation when he hit,” McDowell said.
Rescuers were planning to meet Tuesday morning to figure out how to resume rescue efforts.
Authorities were frustrated Monday when they got within 500 feet of the man but could not reach him because of weather conditions. Rescue efforts were suspended Monday night because of darkness, air turbulence and falling rocks, according to Cox.
The man was a veteran of the climb, having attempted it more than 60 times, the affiliate reported.
“The climber was standing on a cornice of snow on the edge of the crater, about five feet from the actual edge itself, and the cornice gave way and he fell into the crater,” Cox said.
