Posted on 06/03/2004 7:29:35 PM PDT by nuconvert
One of Two Climbers Stranded on Mount Rainier Dies; Second Rescued by Helicopter
The Associated Press
Jun 3, 2004
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. (AP) - One of two climbers stranded on Mount Rainier died Thursday before the other was plucked from the mountain by a helicopter, officials said. Jon Cahill, a firefighter and father of four, had died by the time a party of five rangers reached the two men, who were stranded at 11,300 feet, said Mount Rainier National Park spokesman Barry Fraissinet.
Cahill's death came a little more than two weeks after a climber was fatally injured in a fall from the same ridge about 1,000 feet higher.
Cahill fell about 200 feet as the climbers tried to ascend Liberty Ridge, one of the most difficult routes up the 14,410-foot peak, Fraissinet said. It was unclear what caused the fall.
Cahill's partner, Mark H. Anderson, had a wrist injury and was evacuated by an Oregon National Guard chopper, said Guard spokeswoman Kay Fristad. He was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was in satisfactory condition, said hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson.
Both climbers were firefighters and trained as emergency medical technicians, Fraissinet said.
The Guard helicopter dropped a party of five climbing rangers 500 feet below the injured climbers. The rangers climbed up to assist with the evacuation by helicopter but found one of the climbers dead. They then helped rescue the other climber.
The Black Hawk held steady as a medic was lowered by cable. The rangers hitched the injured climber to the medic and the pair was pulled into the helicopter.
The men had expected to reach the summit by midmorning Thursday, but called for help on a cell phone Thursday morning.
Cahill, 40, was a fire captain in Auburn, outside Tacoma, and an avid firefighter, officials said. "He was like a family member to all of us," said Kimberly McDonald, a spokeswoman for the Auburn Fire Department.
On May 15, climber Peter Cooley tumbled down a steep, icy slope on the same ridge and hit his head on a rock spur. His climbing partner, Scott Richards, maneuvered the two of them to a tiny flat spot, but the Maine men were stranded for two days as temperatures dipped below freezing in whiteout conditions.
Cooley, 39, was picked up by a National Guard helicopter May 17 but died on the way to a hospital. Accompanied by two rangers, Richards hiked down to a glacier the following day and was picked up by a helicopter.
It used to be that the 54th Medical Detachment (Hel Amb), stationed at Ft. Hood perform medivac from Mt. Ranier.
I was the avionics mechanic in that unit, and I am so proud of that.
I wonder if the 54th is now in Iraq...
Thanks for the post.
That's sad. I wonder how much the family will be charged for the helicopter extraction?
seems like Rainier has been deadly this year.
" I was the avionics mechanic in that unit, and I am so proud of that."
And why Not?
Actually, Mt. Rainier is deadly EVERY year.
It does........
Mt. Rainier is always dangerous. I'm probably the only person in the world who climbed within 200 feet of the summit crater and turned around. We were getting socked in and my wife was starting to experience some pretty bad altitude sickness. Okay, that's it and we went down. Glad we did. It can be a scary place.
Seems like it's awful early in the year to be climbing a mountain like Raineer.
Later in the year you cannot climb it.....avalanches become worse due to warming weather.
I know I've heard of deaths in past years, but maybe this year it just catches my attention more since there are a couple within a short window.
I have spent dozens of days backpacking around Mount Rainier.
However, when anyone has asked me join them in a climb up Mount Rainier I have always answered, "No, thanks."
There are some things worth dying for : Defending your family. Defending your country in military service.
Braggin' rights about "I climbed Rainier" has never made at the top of my "worth dying for" list.
http://www.rmiguides.com
They required we arrive a day early and go through a daylong training/qualifying climbing school before attempting the actual 2-day climb. This is a good idea because it weeds out the people who really have no business being there.
Overall, the whole thing was a good experience, but we never made it to the top. The first day of the climb, it was raining cats and dogs - we got about 1/2 way to the shelter where we would spend the night and people started falling down while slogging through the snow. The guide used his professional good judgement and rightly called the climb off and I never got around to trying again.
I was training to climb Mt. Rainier in about 1980....the previous year (I think) a group (about 17) of climbers were lost/killed in a huge avalanche, and one of them was the best friend of a new flame of mine....he convinced me that maybe I should NOT climb it.....haven't really had a desire since.
Yep. The weather is unpredictable.
My house is on a bluff on Puget Sound and our street is aimed right at Mount Rainier. When I get in my car each morning, sometimes you can see The Mountain. Most of the time, you can't.
May he rest in peace.
Sorry, no sympathy from me. These idjits like to flirt with death, so when they die, it is their own damn fault.
I can NOT believe that I said Ft. HOOD!!!!!!!
WHAT A MORON!!!!
Thank you for fixing me!
Ft LEWIS, to be sure!!!!!
Just slap me and call me old, if you please!!!
< SMACK! > Old.
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