Speaking to CNN, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson John Plock said the man “slid down a steep hill and then fell off a cliff”
A 40-year-old Oregon man died after falling an estimated 100 feet off a cliff during a hike with his family, law enforcement announced on Saturday. The incident — which occurred on a trail in Oregon’s Multnomah Falls — comes nearly one year after a woman sustained a fatal head injury after falling 100 feet while hiking on a nearby trail.
On Saturday, the Corbett Fire District confirmed that it had “responded to Multnomah Falls to a report of someone falling off the trail. Unfortunately, the hiker has died from the injuries from the fall.”
The Multnomah Co. Sheriff’s Office also confirmed in a tweet that the fallen hiker had been “located” and was deceased.
Speaking to CNN, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson John Plock said the man “slid down a steep hill and then fell off a cliff,” adding: “We estimate it was a 100 to 150-foot fall.”
The outlet reported that the man had been hiking at Multnomah Falls — which is within Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge — with his wife and five children, and that his body was found roughly 45 minutes after the fall.
According to US Forest Service, the 620-foot Multnomah waterfall attracts more than two million visitors each year, making it the “most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest.” The gorge itself spans some 80 miles long and up to 4,000 feet deep,
In August 2022, authorities confirmed that a female hiker was pronounced dead after falling approximately 100 feet from a trail in the Columbia River Gorge.
In that case, officials from Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and Corbett Fire District said in a press release, “The woman was hiking with a group of friends on the Multnomah Falls-Larch Mountain Trail.”
After she fell, bystanders had administered CPR but when officials arrived at the scene about 1.3 miles off the trailhead, firefighters “pronounced the hiker deceased,” the press release said.
Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office later told media, that the medical examiner’s office had identified the hiker as 62-year-old Jessica Warejoncas of Minnesota.
“The manner of death is not considered suspicious,” the officials added in a statement.