I swallowed with a suddenly dry throat as I told him I would do it. But even as I said yes, I suddenly wished I was back in my hammock, watching arachnids. I was regretting the "big shot speech" and wondering if I was really ready for such activity. Liberty Ridge is big, rocky, loose, icy and steep. Things fall down out there, things get killed. When told that we'd be going after a 19 year old who'd caught a rock in the head, I was both motivated and worried. My own head doesn't do well with rocks. Even my climbing equipment wasn't ready for Mount Rainier. My gear was half packed for Denali, where I was bound in a few days. Perhaps though, I'd get one of those memorable mountain flights out of the deal. So I ran out to the car and got ripping into duffels and stuffing a pack.

The pilot of the Bell JetRanger 206 and I made small talk as we lifted off and swung past Mount Rainier's immense west side. I pointed up the Tahoma Glacier and asked if he'd ever been to the top of the hill. He said he hadn't and allowed that he'd figured us climbers were crazy. That got me laughing as I informed him that from the peak we'd often look out at mountain-buzzing pilots and suspect that they were deranged as well.

A few minutes later, the laughing was over and we were looking hard at the 9000-foot level of the Carbon Glacier where Liberty Ridge juts out from the avalanche scoured North Wall of Rainier. It is a big, intimidating mountain face and it towered 4000 feet above us. I was already moving blood at about 200 beats per minute. Flying in little helicopters does that to me anyway, but I was also looking up above to the accident site about 400 feet up a steep, rock-strafed snow slope on the side of the ridge.

Two climbing rangers, Stefan Lofgren and Nick Giguere, had already been "inserted" by a different helicopter and they were at the scene, performing first aid and planning the move off the ridge. Chris Olsen, another climbing ranger was sitting directly behind me. By then, we knew that Jesse Whitcomb had been hit in the head by a large rock that busted his helmet, knocked him out and knocked him down the slope. He'd been saved when his two rope partners arrested the fall. One of those partners, his Dad, had then called in the accident by cell phone.

— Dave Hahn, MountainZone.com Columnist