Woman Upgrades Mountain Rescue to Chopper

July 25, 2013—— -- A Texas hiker who was injured climbing Mt. St. Helens stopped the rescue effort aimed at getting her down the mountain to call in a helicopter transport instead.

The 48-year-old Teaxas woman, identified by the Houston Chronicle as Nancy Allen, was hiking with her daughter 6,000 feet up Mt. St. Helens on Wednesday when she slipped and hurt herself, according to the Skamania County, Wash., sheriff's office.

Allen called the sheriff's office around 8 p.m. saying she needed help getting back down the mountain, and search and rescue teams scrambled and reached Allen and her daughter by 11 p.m., the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Officers checked Allen for injuries and then began their descent with Allen in a rescue basket.

The team hiked about 2,000 feet down the mountain before taking a break around 5:20 a.m. At that point, Allen stopped the effort and decided to hire a private helicopter to remove her and her daughter.

According to the sheriff's office, the chopper arrived on the mountain around 6:30 a.m. and transported the pair, though officials were not sure whether she was then brought to a hospital or simply back to her waiting vehicle.

The chopper rate was about $1,000 an hour, according to the Chronicle.

"She didn't want to walk down the trail and she didn't want to ride in the Stokes litter," undersheriff Dave Cox told the Chronicle. "I'm not aware of any incidents like this. This is a first for us, as far as I know," Cox said.

Allen couldn't be reached for comment.