Woman killed by falling ice on Mount Hood

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Thad Stavn, left, and Brooke Colvin are shown in images posted to a photo-sharing Web site. They were climbing on Mount Hood Wednesday when falling ice hit them, and Colvin was killed.

By Brian Barker and KATU.com Staff

Story Published: Jan 21, 2009 at 1:03 PM PST

Story Updated: Jan 21, 2009 at 7:33 PM PST

MOUNT HOOD, Ore. - A 31-year-old Portland woman was hit by a large chunk of falling ice while climbing with her husband on Mount Hood and was killed Wednesday, authorities said.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office identified the woman as Brooke Colvin.

Colvin was climbing with her husband, 33-year-old Thad Stavn of Portland, in an area known as the Hogsback on the south side of the mountain when she was hit by ice sometime before 10 a.m., according to Detective Jim Strovink, a Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

Her husband saw her fall about 400 feet after getting hit with the ice chunk, Strovink said.

Stavn apparently climbed down to his wife's location and gave her first aid for about 45 minutes to an hour before deciding she could not be revived, Strovink said. He also called 911 from a cell phone.

Authorities believe she died instantly.

The man eventually skied down to Timberline Lodge, where search and rescue crews had assembled along with an Oregon Army National Guard blackhawk helicopter. Ground crews planned to head up the mountain Wednesday afternoon to retrieve the body.

Information posted on a Web site said the couple was married in September 2007.

Strovink said there has been a considerable amount of falling ice in the area where they were climbing, which is along the main south side route to the summit.

In fact, some climbers this week have reported dodging refrigerator-sized chunks of ice as conditions on the mountain have been warmer than normal.

This was the second time in the past week that falling ice has injured a climber near the summit on Mount Hood.

On Saturday, an national guard helicopter retrieved 45-year-old Michael Leming of Portland after he broke an ankle and suffered other injuries after falling 200 feet near the summit when hit by falling ice.

The following are photos from the parking lot of Timberline Lodge on Wednesday:

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