Eugene Climber Killed in Fall on North Sister Mountain - KEZI TV

By Jeff Skrzypek

EUGENE, Ore. -- A man is presumed dead Sunday night after Lane County Sheriff's Deputies said he fell while hiking in the Three Sisters Wilderness on Saturday.

Friends and family of 37-year-old Brian Jones said he was climbing on North Sister Mountain, an area he scaled multiple times, when he went to grab a ledge but missed.

Deputies said Jones fell down the west face gully Saturday afternoon near the summit of North Sister Mountain.

That section is nicknamed the "Bowling Alley" because of the high frequency of falling rocks.

Crews said they had to use a U.S. National Guard Black Hawk helicopter, as well as several ground crews to locate Jones because of the dense forest of the area.

High winds and blowing snow created near "white-out" conditions and prevented crews from being able to reach Jones. Crews now presume he is dead because of the fall.

"And that's kind of the hardest. We have a lot of volunteers in our program and they're also devastated because they want to go out and find this guy and the want to do closure, and we can't. We would endanger their lives if we did that," said Paul Vitus, Lane County Search and Rescue.

Jones family says he was prepared for the harsh conditions and climbed that exact area in previous trips.

Jones was attending the University of Oregon, studying business.  Friends say they want to create a scholarship in his name and are working on setting up an account to help support the wife and three kids Jones left behind.