Local search and rescue teams retrieve hiker who fell 300 feet

MACKAY — A hiker injured in a 300-foot fall on Mt. Idaho was rescued Saturday thanks to the teamwork of search and rescue volunteers, air paramedics, and the Idaho National Guard.

Emergency dispatchers received the call for help at 12:18 p.m., according to a statement from the Custer County Sheriff’s Office. The “individual had fallen about 300 feet and suffered a head injury on Mount Idaho, in the Lost River Range,” the statement says.

Due to the location of the injured person, the Custer County Search and Rescue Team recruited the help of Air St. Luke’s 1 in Boise and the Idaho National Guard.

The sheriff’s office said guard pilots used their helicopter to hoist the hiker off the mountain and bring the person to paramedics waiting nearby. The person was then loaded onto an Air St. Luke’s helicopter and flown to Eastern Idaho Medical Center in Idaho Falls for further treatment.

“We are once again impressed by the skill and bravery of the Idaho National Guard and Air St. Luke’s performing a rescue in spontaneous inclement weather conditions over the Lost River Range,” the sheriff’s office statement says.

Further information on the extent of the hiker’s injuries or current condition was not immediately available.

In a social media post, the Boise Fire Department said, “These rescues don’t happen without a lot of training and teamwork. Nice work by everyone involved.”