2 climbers rescued in Smith Rock State Park

Published 4:00 am Monday, November 8, 2010

Two men have been rescued from the Red Wall climbing area of Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne.

KTVZ-TV reported 24-year-old Ian Wallace Carlsen, of Puyllup, Wash., called 911 at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday to report he and 22-year-old Russell Scott Howard, of Gresham, were stranded.

Both had been rappelling and had underestimated the amount of rope they needed to descend the wall.

Carlsen was stranded about 250 feet from the bottom, and Howard was stranded about 200 feet from the bottom.

Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue members climbed to the top of the Red Wall and lowered two mountain rescue members over the edge.

The stranded men were attached to the mountain rescue members and lowered the rest of the way to the bottom of the Red Wall. Neither was injured.

The sheriff’s office said 18 members of the mountain rescue team responded to the incident, which took about seven hours to resolve.

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