From Kelly Bush, North Cascades Wilderness District Ranger:

On Saturday, May 23rd, a commercially-guided party of three mountaineers took a tumbling fall down Mount Shuksan's summit pyramid while roped together. The trio had reached the summit and were descending when the accident occurred. The guide had belayed his two clients individually down the first pitches of steep snow, then descended himself. As he was doing so, he fell and, unable to arrest his fall, pulled the other two with him for about 400 feet. Luckily, there was only one significant injury ­ one of the clients injured an ankle and was unable to continue. Climbing rangers on patrol lower on the mountain were picked up by the park¹s on-call SAR helicopter, an MD 500 from HiLine Helicopters, and flown to the accident site. The rangers were able to carry the injured climber across a section of the Sulphide Glacier, then fly her off the mountain. She was transported to a Bellingham, Washington, hospital for evaluation.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar this morning announced that the National Park Service will waive entrance fees for three summer weekends. The service hopes to encourage Americans seeking affordable vacations to visit one of 391 national park sites located across the country.

The 147 National Park Service sites across the country that charge fees for entry will waive those fees during the weekends of June 20-21, July 18-19, and Aug. 15-16.

Meanwhile, many park partners including tour operators, hotels, restaurants, gift shops and other vendors will offer additional discounts and special promotions on those dates.

Click here for more information on the fees and discounts.

According to the Web site, Olympic National Park is holding several promotions:

-- At Lake Crescent Lodge, Fairholme Store and Hurricane Ridge, park visitors can receive a free reusable eco-friendly shopping bag.

-- The park is offering free digital photos of your groups visiting the park. Staffers have chosen a scenic location where digital photos will be taken from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday of the fee free weekends.

-- At all Olympic Peninsula ARAMARK locations, visitors can get a free souvenir water bottle with retail purchase of $35 or more.

No specials were listed for Mount Rainier or North Cascades national parks.

“During these tough economic times, our national parks provide opportunities for affordable vacations for families,” Salazar said at a press conference at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, according to a news release

“National Parks also serve as powerful economic engines for local communities and we hope that promoting visitation will give a small shot in the arm to businesses in the area,” he said.

Nationwide, parks last year attracted more than 275 million recreation visits. Spending by non-local visitor provided $10.6 billion for local economies, supporting more than 213,000 jobs, not counting National Park Service jobs, according to the release.

The entrance fees being waived at the 147 sites that usually charge for admission range from $3 to $25. The 244 other parks do not charge entrance fees. The waiver does not include other fees collected in advance or by contractors – such as fees charged for camping, reservations, tours and use of concessions.