PORTLAND, Ore. - A man taking in the view at the rim of Mount St. Helens Saturday fell several hundred feet into the crater when the icy overhang he was standing on collapsed, authorities said.

Some believe he is the first person to ever fall off the rim into the crater.  

John Slemp, 52, of Damascus, survived the fall but injured his leg and was rescued by an emergency crew who flew into the crater by helicopter, according to Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox.

Slemp got to the west rim on a snowmobile and had gotten off and walked to the edge of the rim prior to falling, Cox said. There were two other people with him, and he was wearing a snowmobile helmet when he fell about 5:30 p.m., he said.

After landing several hundred feet below, Slemp slid on his hands and knees to the bottom of the crater, Cox said.

A private helicopter flown by pilot Jeff Linscott obtained by Fire District 13 in Yacolt, Wash., picked up two members of the district's Volcano Rescue Team and flew them to the crater floor about 7 p.m. The crew helped Slemp to the helicopter, which took him to Yacolt to meet a North Country EMS ambulance.

"I would have never thought in my wildest dreams you could fall 2,000-plus vertical feet down a sheer face and be alive to tell about it," Linscott said.

Slemp was taken to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, where he was listed in fair condition Sunday.

The U.S. Forest Service will investigate the incident, Cox said.