MOUNT HOOD -- Recovery teams early Monday morning were trying to retrieve the body of a Mt. Hood climber who died on the Cooper Spur Route after he was hit by a falling rock.

KGW File

Crews were trying to reach the man's body before the sun rose and snow melted, officials at the Hood River County Sheriff's Office said. The area in which the accident happened was described as vertical snow, ice and rock, at about 9,000 feet, above Elliot Glacier.

Officials said the recovery will be technically difficult for the climbing team.

The 55-year-old victim was part of a climbing party; his name was not immediately released.

On Sunday at 3:15 p.m., the Hood River County 911 Center received a report of an injured climber on Mt. Hood.

The party was descending the north side of Mt. Hood by the Cooper Spur Route when the climber was struck by a rock and fell.

Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler and Crag Rat Rick Ragan flew over the area and saw what they believed was the injured climber at approximately the 9,000 foot level.

The 641st Army National Guard Medivac helicopter flew over the area, and was able to confirm visually and by thermal technology that the climber was dead.

In December 2006, climber Kelly James of Texas died of hypothermia in the same area of the mountain. His body was found in a snow cave, but the bodies of the two other men in his climbing party, Brian Hall of Texas and Jerry Cooke of New York, were never found.