*** Two Mount Rainier Wardens Die during Rescue *** On 14 Aug 1995, Tuan Tran wrote: The SJMN this morning reported that 2 persons (22 & 23) fell to their deaths while trying to rescue another person who broke his ankle on the way down. The injured person was finally picked up by helicopter. Many of you probably know more than I do by now, but the PI reported that two summer rangers were trying to rescue a 40 year old from S. California who had fallen a fractured his ankle at about 13400 on the Emmons. Evidently one fell, and pulled the other off with him and they fell 300-400 ft down an adjacent glacier (not sure which one). This happened between 12am and 6am and the bodies were recovered later. The rangers were 23 and 22, both from the midwest but with a good deal of experience supposedly (although one would question this with 2 people on a rope in the dark in high winds below freezing!) The guy with the fractured ankle was eventually rescued by the next team. This is all pretty sobering considering something like this happens on one of the "easiest" routes up Rainier. Probably never would have happened if the climbing party had the sense to recognize the weather and hold off for a bit. I guess a lot of people feel that if they travel all the way here, they have to climb at all costs. And two on a rope in those conditions? I know hindsight is best but they broke some serious fundamentals, and it suck that they weren't just scared instead of killed. My solemn condolences go out to the rangers, and their families (including all Rainier alpine rangers). Tom Howze Cascade Nordic Ski Patrol From: eric@u.washington.edu (Eric Hirst) Newsgroups: rec.climbing Subject: Re: Two deaths on Mt. Rainier this weekend Date: 15 Aug 1995 01:25:35 GMT Organization: University of Washington Thomas Howze writes: >Many of you probably know more than I do by now, but the PI reported that >two summer rangers were trying to rescue a 40 year old from S. California >who had fallen a fractured his ankle at about 13400ft on the Emmons. >Evidently one fell, and pulled the other off with him and they fell >300-400ft down an adjacent glacier (not sure which one). My info is from the Seattle Times: Rangers left Shurman and Muir Saturday night to reach the injured party on the Emmons. The Shurman rangers carried light first aid gear and originally had a 3rd member; the Muir Rangers carried evacuation gear. Conditions were very icy and crusty, with lots of new surface ice formation from passing clouds, and the Emmons is currently pretty heavily crevassed (my observation from a tourist trip to Sunrise yesterday with my Mom and Dad and Uncle Vern). The Shurman Rangers started up the Upper Winthrop Glacier with the intention of traversing over to the injured climbers from the N. One member (Ranger? volunteer?) of the Shurman team backed off, sick, and they continued as a party of two. They were last heard from at midnight at 12900ft, and fell during the night to 12000ft. Their bodies were found at 11:30, on the N side of the Winthrop. (I assume Winthrop is the glacier between Emmons and Curtis Ridge/Willis Wall. If so, it didn't look any less crevassed than the Emmons from Sunrise, although I wasn't paying close attention when I was there.) My speculations and comments: Had they remained as a party of three there might have been another dead. But recent snowfall and limited visibility may have made travelling unroped an even worse option. Yeah, they probably could have placed screws. I don't know. I've done dumber stuff and lived. I can shrug off some accidents, confident that Iwould have had better judgement. This is not one of them. Eric Hirsteric@u.washington.edu From: stevenbank@aol.com (Stevenbank) Reply-To: stevenbank@aol.com (Stevenbank) Newsgroups: rec.climbing Subject: Re: Mt. Rainier Incident? Date: 14 Aug 1995 23:40:57 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) According to the Seattle Times John Graver fell 60 to 80 feet @ 13,400ft on Emmons glacier breaking his ankle. Two teams of rangers left from camp Schurman and Muir. The rangers from Schurman got to 200 feet below the guy and fell. The article does not say how they fell. They fell 1300 feet on to Winthrop Glacier. Both died. The names have not been released,they were 22 and 23 years old. It was real icy from the freezing mosture off the surrounding clouds. Thats the condensed version from the Seattle times, If anyone has a better knowledge of what happened please post it. Steve Banks Seattle From: mikew@willow.cs.washington.edu (Mike Williamson) Newsgroups: rec.climbing Subject: Re: Two deaths on Mt. Rainier this weekend Date: 15 Aug 1995 02:45:29 GMT Organization: University of Washington, Computer Science & Eng. The only thing I can add to Eric's account is that one of the newspaper articles (I forget which one) implicated crampon failure as a possible cause of the fall... -Mike ----------------------------