MOUNT BARING, Wash. -- Authorities say a BASE jumper who spent the night hanging from parachute straps on Mount Baring was rescued Tuesday and flown to Granite Falls where he was arrested for an unrelated case in Skagit County.
Sheriff's Deputy Will Reichardt says 44-year-old Eldon Burrier of Lynnwood was booked into jail on a district court warrant accusing him of reckless endangerment in May at a Washington state park. Burrier was released because of overcrowding at the jail in Mount Vernon.
Sheriff's deputies said the Lynnwood man attempted to do a BASE jump on his own Monday night to memorialize another BASE jumper who died at the mountain on July 25 when her chute didn't open. Burrier's parachute lines got snared on a "chimney" rock outcropping, leaving him dangling in his parachute harness on the rocky mountain side for 12 hours.
"I've been told that this was his first jump off Mount Baring and that he did it alone," said Peter Teske, Snohomish County Sheriff's Dept.
Burrier was uninjured, other than suffering minor bruises and abrasions, and used his cell phone to call 911 for help around 9 p.m. His call mobilized a massive rescue effort by Snohomish County Sheriff's Office Patrol and Search and Rescue, Mountain Search and Rescue, Index Fire, Seattle Mountain Rescue, Bellingham Mountain Rescue, and Olympic Mountain Rescue.
A rescue team in a helicopter tried to rescue Burrier, but were unsuccessful in taking him down safely. A ground crew ascended the mountain close to where he was and kept in contact with him throughout the night. Snohomish County Lt. John Flood said Burrier wasn't dressed for the elements, and he kept warm by wrapping himself with his parachute.
Early Tuesday, about 60 search and rescue team members hiked over four hours and arrived at the north part of the mountain about 6:30 a.m. and lowered ropes some 200 feet down a cliff. Rescuers said it was an extremely technical climb to get to the top and to secure the bolts and anchors needed to safely reach Burrier.
"From which point they had to traverse and descend to the patient using rope rigging, bolting and anchoring to the mountain itself - a huge effort. Hundred of hours of manpower," said Teske.
Crews rappelled several hundred feet down to the man. Once they secured Burrier, they hoisted him back to the top of the mountain.
"I don't like using the word luck, but God was certainly watching out for him," said Teske.
Burrier was conscious, but slightly hypothermic. Lt. Flood said he was checked out by a medic on scene, but refused aid and didn't want to go to the hospital by helicopter. Since medics reasonably believed he was making an informed decision about his condition, they didn't force him to go to the hospital.
Lt. Flood said it's not illegal for BASE jumpers to jump off the mountain. Burrier won't be fined since he had not trespassed nor will he be billed for rescue services. However, while he refused to be transported to a hospital, a helicopter did airlift him off the mountain to Granite Falls, where he was arrested by police on an unrelated outstanding warrant.
The husband of the BASE jumper who was killed last week, a 32-year-old Bothell woman, said she had jumped off a separate cliff than the man jumped from. The family did not know the man was planning a "memorial jump."
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