Helicopter team rescues injured skier high on Mt. Olympus

MOUNT OLYMPUS — A 51-year-old Holladay man suffered head and neck injuries Thursday when he fell while skiing down a snowfield high on Mt. Olympus.

Fred Henion, who had been climbing and skiing with two friends, was rescued by helicopter sometime around 9 p.m., by a team who had been lowered into the "inaccessible" location. He was then flown to Intermountain Medical Center.

The experienced climbers had ascended up steep terrain on the mountain's north face and were skiing down when Henion slipped off the snow into a the rock face, injuring his head and neck, said fellow climber Mark Lengeo.

Thursday evening, Lengeo said he didn't think Henion was seriously injured apart from a laceration to his head and a stiff neck. The injured climber was stable and coherent

"I would put it at serious," Unified Police Lt. John Barker said of Henion's condition. "He was complaining of neck injuries — but right now it's hard to tell."

Henion injured himself when he slid into a crack between the snowfield and rock face, which on a glacier is known as a "bergschrund," Lengeo said. Such crevices, which may be about one to three feet wide, form when the snow begins to melt and pulls away from the rock.

The snowfield where the three were skiing is essentially a block of ice covered by some slush, he added.

Henion is a highly experienced climber in excellent condition, his friend said.