Crews rescue climber who slid down 300 feet on Mt. Borah

Custer County Search and Rescue was brought in to help rescue a man who slid 300 feet down an ice face on Mt. Borah Sunday afternoon.

57-year-old Kent Blau of Declo, Idaho was climbing Mt. Borah when he slid 300 feet down an ice face to the shale slide below Snow Bridge. He tried to climb out on his own but couldn’t get past the boulders in the area.

Search teams from Mackay and Challis and a helicopter from Reeder’s Flying Service responded to the area to help rescue Blau on Sunday evening. Heavy smoke and winds slowed the rescue but they found and extracted Blau on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. Blau was not seriously injured in the slide.

The rescue crews and Blau stayed the night on the mountain when it was determined it would be too dangerous with night approaching and smoke growing increasingly thick.

Blau was safely returned to family in Mackay Monday morning at around 9:30 a.m.