BELLINGHAM — A U.S. Navy search-and-rescue team airlifted an injured speed-flyer who had spent two days in the Mount Baker wilderness over the holiday weekend.
Crew members of a medevac helicopter began searching early Monday for the 29-year-old Issaquah man, who had been reported missing since Saturday on Church Mountain, according to a statement from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, where the team is based.
He was flown to Harborview Medical Center with “significant injuries,” according to Navy spokesman Michael Welding.
Speed-flying is a form of paragliding, but participants glide fast and close to the ground after jumping from a high point.
Helicopter crew members found the man near the peak of Church Mountain, a 6,315-foot summit northeast of Glacier that’s accessible from the ground only by a steep hiking trail.
“After an initial sweep, the SAR team conducted a low-level, slow search and eventually found a chute of the same description as the (speed-flyer’s) chute,” Welding said.
Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Deb Slater told The Bellingham Herald that a 911 call about the missing man was placed Sunday night.
Members of the volunteer Bellingham Mountain Rescue team were also alerted, but they called off their response when the helicopter crew found the man early Monday.
“A SAR team member was inserted to the spot to search for the paraglider where he found footprints heading off into the bush away from the chute,” Welding said.
