The body of Karl Roy Iwen, 27, was recovered from the side of Three Fingered Jack one week after Iwen lost his footing and fell an estimated 800 feet from near the top of the mountain on October 25.

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According to Linn County Sheriff Dave Burright, Iwen's body lay "in a steep bowl of rock, at about the 7,000-foot level. Beyond the ledge where his body (was) lying, there is another drop of about 60 feet, a slope of loose rock, then another drop of 1,000 feet to the Pacific Crest Trail."

According to Burright, on November 1, a commercial helicopter used for logging and firefighting lowered a long cable to the body. The plan was to snag Iwen's backpack with a hook and lift him to the trail below, where mounted deputies waited.

"Unfortunately, he was pretty much frozen in place," said Burright. "The hook was just sliding off his clothing."

A small firefighting bucket was hooked to the cable and two buckets of water were dropped to thaw clothes and straps. The helicopter then worked for another half hour.

When the pack was finally snagged, the waist strap buckle broke and the pack came off the body. After the pack was removed from the hook, the helicopter flew to Redmond to refuel.

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Initially it was thought to be too dangerous to put climbers in.

"Climbers can't get to him from below because of the sheer vertical faces and the fact that the mountain's rotten rock doesn't offer any decent anchor points," said Burright before the recovery.

The mountain's disintegrating surface posed other hazards.

"The body (was) at the bottom of a funnel or chute. There is no refuge for a rescuer if a rock fall starts. He would be in harm's way the whole time," Burright said.

However, a team from Corvallis Mountain Rescue was able to find a traverse across the face of the cliff just above Iwen's body. One climber rappelled down and attached two straps. When the helicopter returned about five minutes later, the rescue team member attached the straps to the hook and Iwen's body was lifted out.

"It was right at 5 p.m. when they lowered the body at the trail. The sun was right on the horizon. We only had about 10 more minutes," said Sheriff Burright.

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It was 9 p.m. when teams finally made it back to their vehicles. Burright said there were 21 people on the mountain for the effort. There were 32 rescuers involved the previous Saturday when Iwen's accident was first reported.

Burright said the cost of the retrieval would probably range between $2,500 and $3,000, not including expenses carried by mountain rescue volunteers. "The Forest Service has volunteered to help with the cost, and the helijet is giving us a break. The remainder will be borne by the county," said the sheriff.