Mt. Rainier avalanche

[boardman]

Slab avalanche swept down the Ingraham Glacier, taking 11 climbers with it. Ten rescued, one missing. Photo of the avy here:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gh0bQ4S1vdv1TwLxGLHXeMo32aggD9G5MG301

At least 1 climber missing after Rainier avalanche
By PHUONG LE (AP) – 1 day ago

SEATTLE — Nearly a dozen people trekking to the summit of Mount Rainier were overtaken by an avalanche, but all except one were pulled from the snow by guides, officials said.

A helicopter Saturday scoured the slope of Mount Rainier, some 60 miles east of Seattle, for the climber and a skier reported in the area who may also have been missing, said Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold.

But bad weather forced officials to call off the search in the afternoon. Continuing avalanche dangers prevented a ground search. Officials said it might not be safe enough to search again by air or land until Monday.

Several climbing teams were ascending toward the summit of Rainier when the slab avalanche occurred at 4:45 a.m. Saturday at the 12,500-foot level as a large plate of snow broke away from the mountain, Wold said.

The avalanche ran about 1,200 feet down the Ingraham Direct Route and overtook 11 of the climbers, she said.

Ten of the trekkers were pulled from the snow by mountaineering guides but the other person couldn't be located, she said.

A helicopter from the U.S. Army Reserve out of Fort Lewis airlifted two injured climbers from the upper mountain Saturday afternoon. Wold said they were flown to an area hospital and were in stable condition with lacerations and other injuries. There were no reports of any other significant injuries.

Officials said 11th person may have been climbing alone.

"The missing climber did not register for his climb, so we are focusing our efforts on identifying him. Until we do, we are unable to notify his family of the situation," mountaineering ranger Stefan Lofgren said.

According to Colorado Avalanche Information Center, there have been 34 avalanche fatalities nationwide in the 2009-2010 season.

About 5 percent of the more than 10,000 who climbed the 14,411-foot Mount Rainier last year used the Ingraham Direct, according to a park report.

Associated Press reporter William McCall in Portland, Ore., contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[NtrentT]

Any word on if they found the 11th climber?

[jshefftz]

Any word on if they found the 11th climber?

You mean found Mark Wedeven alive or just his corpse?
The former seems highly unlikely by now.
Here's a grim twist:
http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4082241.html

[lynchdogger]

You mean found Mark Wedeven alive or just his corpse?
The former seems highly unlikely by now.
Here's a grim twist:
http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4082241.html

I'm confused (which isn't unusual ;) ). How are these two stories related?

[jshefftz]

He survived a narcoterrorist kidnapping seven-and-a-half years ago only to fall victim to an avalanche.

[boardman]

Further information I'm getting reveals that Camp Muir had received more than 2 feet of snow, with several more at higher elevations. Why those teams were on the Ingraham at all in what were reportedly Extreme avy conditions is anyone's guess. Word is, the RMI and other guided groups had give the "no-go" word and had their teams practicing snow skills on the Flats, which is why they were in a position to assist in rescuing those who were swept.

[lynchdogger]

He survived a narcoterrorist kidnapping seven-and-a-half years ago only to fall victim to an avalanche.

Thought that's what you meant but was wondering if there was something else I missed.

Tough way to go. But foolish to attempt in Extreme conditions (if indeed that were the conditions). Sad. RIP.

[wooley12]

Just got back to civilization i.e. internet access. T4T is my 1st stop. I skinned up to Camp Muir that day about noon and word in the camp was that it was a natural trigger and took out a climbing group from Korea. Lots of activity at Muir with helis dropping off rescue teams and supplies. The ranger gathered everyone around and notified all that due to high avy danger and maxed out rescue efforts, no one should expect any help if they went up. Didn't see anyone head out while I was there. I'll be posting a TR next week but the camera died on the way up.

[boardman]

There's some good info on conditions prior to the avalanche here:

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/961205/Avalanche_on_Rainier#Post961205

And then a lot of post-avalanche discussion here (including accounts by guides who were up there):

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/962382/Rainier_Avalanche#Post962382

[boardman]

Special Avy Forecast posted the day after the avalanche:

http://www.nwac.us/archive/sabsea_2010-06-07-1253.html

Yesterday's, predicting high to extreme rating above 7-8K this weekend:

http://www.nwac.us/forecast/avalanche/current/zone/7/

Sucks for the folks who've already forked over a grand to be guided up Rainier this weekend, but that's how it goes with mountain weather, eh?

[boardman]

And here you go, climbers were warned of extreme conditions according to this local news account:

By Craig Hill, staff writer
Published: 06/08/10 6:42 am | Updated: 06/08/10 6:43 am
Comments (0)
Recommend (0)At least nine of the climbers caught in Saturday's avalanche on Mount Rainier were warned conditions were unsafe before they departed, a national park spokesman and multiple sources told The News Tribune on Monday.

Just hours after the warning, 11 climbers were caught in an avalanche on the Ingraham Glacier. One, identified as 27-year-old Mark Wedeven of Olympia, is presumed to be the 96th known mountaineering death in Rainier history, park spokesman Kevin Bacher said.

Avalanche conditions remained high Monday and prevented rangers from searching for Wedeven, Bacher said. It is unclear when conditions will permit the search to continue.

The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center released a statement warning of “significant unstable snow accumulations” on Rainier and much of the Olympics and Cascade ranges.

Climbing ranger Tom Payne was stationed at Camp Muir on Friday night and Saturday morning and notified all of the parties camped there that the avalanche danger on the upper mountain was extreme, Bacher said.

“Most of the parties decided not to climb,” Bacher said.

The three- and six-person parties who were caught in the avalanche were among those warned by Payne, Bacher said. The other two climbers did not register for their climbs, so it is unclear whether they received the warning or checked avalanche conditions, Bacher said.

Wedeven reportedly started climbing from Paradise late Friday night or early Saturday and did not stop at Camp Muir. Park officials identified him based on descriptions from other climbers and a missing person report filed by his family.

International Mountain Guides and Rainier Mountaineering Inc. decided Friday night that they would not attempt the 14,411-foot summit on Saturday and relayed the news to their clients.

Instead, both groups left Camp Muir later than usual and climbed to Ingraham Flats to show the clients the upper mountain.

The RMI group reached the flats first, and guides were showing clients how to do a pit test to check for avalanche danger when the wall of snow began its deadly descent.

“The guides turned and told the clients to run,” said Paul Maier of RMI.

Because of their position below where the avalanche stopped, the RMI guides needed just 10 minutes to get in position to help rescue climbers. IMG guides weren’t far behind.

While climbers not buried by the avalanche were the first to start digging, RMI guides Tyler Jones, Adam and Caroline George, Mark Falender and Thomas Greene helped dig out three climbers.

Many of the climbers weren’t wearing avalanche transceivers, so guides had to probe the snow and pull on ropes to find them. None of the climbers was buried deeper than about 1 foot, but two were blue by the time they were rescued, Maier said.

Wedeven was traveling alone, so he was not roped up and perhaps not using an avalanche transceiver. Wedeven’s parents, David and Carol, told KIRO-TV that their son had climbed Mount Rainier numerous times.

“He said to me, ‘Mom, if I die on a mountain, don’t worry about it,’ and I’m sure it was instant and it was over,” Carol Wedeven said to the news station.

All of the buried climbers were pulled to safety within 10 minutes, about the time IMG guides Eric Remza, Josh Smith, Mike Haft and Austin Shannon arrived and started tending those who were hurt.

“They were lucky because they were in the right place at the right time to help,” Maier said of the guides who helped in the rescue.

The current high avalanche danger is not unusual in June when winter and summer conditions mix, said Paul Baugher, co-director of International Mountain Guides and director of the Northwest Avalanche Institute.

Most of the avalanche danger comes early in the season, and so far this season more of IMG’s climbing parties have turned around than have reached the summit, he said.

The nice weather Saturday morning might have given climbers a false sense of security, he said.

“You go up a little bit to take a look and it’s so nice that you get lured into going a little bit farther,” Baugher said.

“People get away with a lot of bad decisions.”

With nasty weather battering Rainier for the past three weeks (at one point last week three hours of 100 mph winds ruined several tents at Ingraham Flats), climbers and guides alike were itching for a nice day that would allow them to summit.

“I give a lot of credit to the guides to be able to resist the temptation (to climb on Saturday),” Baugher said. “It’s always OK to turn around.”

Wedeven is presumed to be the first mountaineering death on Rainier since 2005, when a Jefferson County firefighter fell down Gibraltar Chute. From 1998 to 2005, park records show there was 0.18 fatalities per 1,000 climbers.

With the risk of avalanche still high, Baugher says climbers must be diligent about checking conditions before they climb.

“Watch the avalanche reports,” Bacher said, “and take them extremely seriously.”

Craig Hill: 253-597-8497

[davearmany]

I don't find them much linked or meaningful either.

[hudberry]

Did they find the one who was missing at last? Though there is very little chance I understand.

[wooley12]

At my house and on my computer I throw the junk mail into the trash ASAP. i.e. hudberry and davearmany

Back to the Avy - Anyone know why the NWAC has not posted an accident report?