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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Climber dies on Mount Hood

OREGON CITY, Ore. – A man climbing alone who died early Thursday after falling about 1,000 feet on the south side of Mount Hood was an experienced mountaineer from Portland, a Clackamas County sheriff’s officer said.

Mark Cartier, 56, fell from close to the 10,000-foot level, landing on the west side of an area known as the Hogsback near Crater Rock, Sgt. Adam Phillips said.

He had been on a standard climbing route. Other climbers who saw him fall alerted authorities.

In a statement, Cartier’s wife, Deb Weekley, said her husband was a past member of Timberline Mountain Guides who “always exemplified the description of preparedness and calculated risk” and used Mount Hood “as his special playground.”

“He climbed the mountain as he has done hundreds of times before,” she said. “The only thing different this time was that he didn’t call me saying he had made it down.”

Rescuers brought his body down off the mountain later in the day.

Cartier is the fourth person – and second climber – to die on the mountain this year. The other two fatalities involved snowboarders.