Posted on 06/18/2004 4:55:17 AM PDT by 11th Earl of Mar
June 17, 2004
Body of Climber Sighted on Mount Rainier
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - The body of a climber was spotted Thursday at the 9,000-foot level of Mount Rainier and a second climber was missing, a Mount Rainier National Park ranger said.
Rangers in a helicopter saw the climber, lying motionless and face-down on the 14,411-foot peak's north side, supervisory climbing ranger Mike Gauthier said Thursday night.
Rangers had been searching for two Montana men, in their 20s, who had been expected back Monday from a climb begun last Friday up the mountain's dangerous Liberty Ridge route.
Heavy snowfall and winds of more than 100 miles per hour pummeled the mountain all weekend, Gauthier said, destroying tents at some of the high camps. Avalanche danger was extreme.
The Montana climbers were described as experienced. One was 29, the other was described only as in his 20s, the ranger said.
Rangers were unable to reach the body Thursday but planned to fly to the site early Friday to check the body and search for the missing man, Gauthier said.
"Having seen a lot of fatalities in the mountains in the snow, one can suppose this person is not alive," he said. "There was no movement, no signs of life."
The climbers were not immediately identified pending notification of relatives.
The body was located in a large basin, essentially at the bottom of a 4,000-foot-tall glacier wall or rock and ice, Gauthier said.
"There was a lot of icefall debris around the body," he said, as well as two backpacks and climbing rope.
The climbers were first reported overdue on Tuesday but rangers were not unduly concerned until late Wednesday because many climbing teams had been slowed by the weather and no descending climbers reported seeing any accidents.
Another two-man climbing party called for assistance Thursday in climbing down, saying they were unhurt but "in over their heads," Gauthier said. Those climbers, also unidentified, have food and fuel.
Maybe its me, but I don't remember Mt. Rainier ever having such a fatal year as this one.
Reminds me of Everest '96.
One article I read said an average of 3 people a year die on Rainier. Looks like this might be an above average year.
Seems like last year there were 13 deaths on Mt Rainier. I'll have to look it up.
Every day I look at that mountain - a clear shot of the west side - and even from 25 miles away the winds and glacial breakup are easily seen. There isn't a glacier without large amounts of fallen rock at its' base. Now just how large are those freshly fallen rocks if I can see individual ones from 25 miles?
Ping!
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