Banff Avalanche

[Doug]

Anyone else find it tastless that the news media uses this board to mine for information? I PM'd king5news and let her know I thought it was tasteless.

 

Maybe I'm a little sensitive because I knew the deceased. I hate having to deal with carp like this, especially because I have the flu right now.

[Rodchester]

Hmmm....I think they've been alright so far on this board the few times they've been on.

 

I seem to recall that they have asked info other times to be sure they uderstood what they were reporting. That is a good thing in my mind. Too often the media doesn't get things and when they report it it simply comes out wrong.

[pindude]

Anyone else find it tastless that the news media uses this board to mine for information? I PM'd king5news and let her know I thought it was tasteless.

 

Maybe I'm a little sensitive because I knew the deceased. I hate having to deal with carp like this, especially because I have the flu right now.

 

Not tasteless at all. Discussion boards I think are actually very appropriate for media to confirm info, etc. Open communication is best. In the past, the media have actually been schooled by the others on this board, with kid gloves and especially without.

 

I can see why you would be sensitive about things right now, Doug. Even with the bright sunlight streaming in my window right now, it's a sad day. Sorry for their loss, for you and all other friends, family.

[sk]

so sad. I hope their families find peace. Edited February 14, 2004 by Muffy_The_Wanker_Sprayer

[philfort]

this sucks... I used to be a member of TMRU, and knew two of the victims - really nice guys.

[JUSTO]

The route was Midnight Rambler.

 

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=news_home&articleID=1527996

[Lowell_Skoog]

Here's a link to today's front page story in the Times:

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001857949_avalanche14m.html

 

I met John Miner in 1987, when he and some friends joined my brother Gordy and me to try climbing Mt Waddington. I'm sorry I didn't get to know him better on that trip. I never saw him again after that.

 

This tragedy reminds me of the accident about ten years ago when Mark Bebie, Steve Risse and Tom ?? were killed on Slipstream, apparently by an avalanche or falling cornice. A very similar scenario.

 

Although I didn't really know the victims in this accident, it is a sad day.

[lummox]

no good comes outta death in the mountains.

my condolences to friends and family of the dead.

[glassgowkiss]

hey Lowell, i'd like to straighten this out with the accident on slipstream. i was at rampart at the time and even though i did not witness the accident myself i talked to two wardens, who were dealing with it. there was a cornice fracture indead. but it is not sure if it was the cause of that accident. back in '93 there was one of the worst snow conditions in years. there was almost 5 weeks of -30C or lower, snow was real shit. facets and all. avalanche forecast was high for several weeks. party started climbing slipstream only 2 or 3 days after snowfall. this route is very dangerous due to the fact, that snow from the icefield accumulates into 2 bowls on that route. from what was known to me at that time it looked like a slab was released by the climbers themselves. according to the warden back then it was bad judgment call to get on slipstream at that time.

to put things into perpective- rockies have very specific climat and snow pack is one of the most danderous features. after having two very close calls i would urge people to use the most conservative judgment calls as far as route destination. a little math: 1m3 of wet snow weighs almost 1000kg. let's take a small slope about 20mx10m with 10cm snow. that gives 20 cubic meters of snow. that's 20 000kg usually traveling about 100- 160km/h. to put it into simple terms it would be like getting hit by a locomotive travelling between 60-100mph.

anyway, enough ramblings

[Mike]

A post on Live-the-vision.com said that they were doing a route called midnight rambler.

[tomtom]

A group of us were climbing in Banff this past week. Actually, I was driving up the Icefield Parkway past Mount Wilson Friday morning as the helicopter was flying to the site.

 

In the Calgary paper, an avalanche expert said that one of the contributing causes was a temperature inversion on Thursday. The temps at the base were 15 F while higher up on the mountain they approached 32 F. Both Wednesday and Thursday were sunny in the area.

 

Terrible accident.

[Greg_W]

Here's a raised glass to these guys. I happened to see the headline Sat. night in the grocery store and it definitely put a damper on my evening. I have found it interesting that the more I climb the more these types of accidents affect me. I didn't know these guys, but it is saddening to lose three guys who gave back to the local climbing community. My heart goes out to their families.

[sobo]

For those who would like to know...

 

For John Miner:

Friday, Feb 20, 1300 hrs

City Church

8800 132nd Avenue NE

Kirkland, WA

 

For Jim Andrues:

Saturday, Feb 21, 0900 hrs

Church for All Nations

111 112th Street

Tacoma, WA

 

Tacoma Mountain Rescue Unit's "Celebration of Life" for Jim Andrues and John Miner:

Saturday, Feb 21, 1300 hrs

Pierce County Environmental Services Bldg.

9850 64th Street West

University Place, WA

(253) 798-4050

[Know_Fear]

We're just back from the Icefields Parkway. We stayed at Rampart Creek hostel Friday evening and heard the news. I didn't get specifics, but there were a lot of wardens parked mid point on Mt. Wilson Fri/Sat. It sounded/looked like the accident occured near Lady Wilson's Cleavage.

 

Thurs was abnormally sunny and warm - blue sky all day. It hadn't snowed for almost a week and temps were generally below freezing. However the sun was causing wet slides on Thursday. Otherwise condtions were ideal for climbing. We were sorry to hear about the tragedy.

[sobo]

...It sounded/looked like the accident occured near Lady Wilson's Cleavage...

 

Accident occurred on Midnight Rambler, very near LWC.

[JoshK]

For those who would like to know...

 

For John Miner:

Friday, Feb 20, 1300 hrs

City Church

8800 132nd Avenue NE

Kirkland, WA

 

For Jim Andrues:

Saturday, Feb 21, 0900 hrs

Church for All Nations

111 112th Street

Tacoma, WA

 

Tacoma Mountain Rescue Unit's "Celebration of Life" for Jim Andrues and John Miner:

Saturday, Feb 21, 1300 hrs

Pierce County Environmental Services Bldg.

9850 64th Street West

University Place, WA

(253) 798-4050

 

Ugh...City Church...<shudder>

[sobo]

Ugh...City Church...<shudder>

 

I've never been there, but I understand that its big, and they're expecting a large turnout. That's why they chose it.

[JoshK]

Ugh...City Church...<shudder>

 

I've never been there, but I understand that its big, and they're expecting a large turnout. That's why they chose it.

 

Yeah, it's quite large. I just get a bad vibe from that congregation.

 

But there are other concerns for a memorial, obviously

[fenderfour]

This was in the latest Boealps Newsletter. I thought you might like to read it.

 

A Remembrance of John Miner, Jim Andrues, and Russ Howard

by Rick Wire

 

For the past 20 years, John Miner had been

coming to the spectacular Canadian Rockies to ice

climb. He had climbed all around the world but

loved this area best. For those of us who chose to

go with John on this annual trek north, great

climbing and even greater camaraderie were the

rewards. Jim Andrues was a regular on the trips

for the last 7 years. It seemed that as soon as 1

trip was over, the planning would start for the

next year. It was a special feeling to be invited.

This year, five of our teammates (John, Jim, Rick,

Kenny and Mike) went and two other climber

friends (Micah and Russ) joined them.

On Thursday, February 12, our teammates left

from the David Thompson Resort in different

directions to spend the day on two different

waterfall climbs. A cold, sunny, beautiful day for

climbing. Rick’s team finished the day early and

were back at the DTR by late afternoon. As

darkness came, Rick, Kenny, Micah and Mike

became concerned that Jim, John and Russ were

not back. They knew where they were climbing

and Rick and Kenny headed out around 7pm to

look for them. They found John’s car and their

tracks leading to the climb named Midnight

Rambler. They quickly moved up the trail noting

the tracks were only pointed uphill. As they got

closer to the climb, Rick said the tracks suddenly

were covered up by a strangely textured snow.

Within a few more steps, their headlights

illuminated the debris zone. Perhaps only fellow

climbers can relate to the terrible feelings Rick and

Kenny felt then. They quickly called out and

searched the area. They wouldn’t know till the

next day how huge the debris field really was.

They found a helmet - then a rope. They followed

the rope into the packed ice. They knew their

friends were under it. The chopped at the ice with

ski poles in vain – it had set hard. The realized

they needed help and got to the Saskatchewan

ranger station as fast as they could.

Sometime during that beautiful day, an

unanticipated inversion had settled on the valley

warming the upper slopes. Down below where

our friends were climbing, it was clear and cold

and I’m sure they were having a good climb. A

snow field high above and around a blind corner

loosened and avalanched down the gully they

were climbing. They would have never seen it

coming and would have had only seconds to react

as it came their way.

A search effort by the great rangers from Parks

Canada began soon after. Later that night, a dog

team found our friend John who had been buried

a little more than a meter deep. After searching

and digging, the ranger teams were exhausted.

They halted the search around 3am. At first light,

they were back at the scene. Within a few hours,

they had found Russ and finally Jim.

Around 9pm, that night of the 12th, I received a

call at home from Rick’s wife, Lisa. Her strength

and composure was amazing and I truly thank her

for this. Within minutes of hearing the news,

through tears and hugs we—I and Jeff, my

partner and TMRU member of 23 years—knew

we had to notify our good friend and fellow

teammate Tom of his brother John’s fate. As Jeff

made that call, I called those on our team who

were closest to John and Jim. After the initial

shock and more tears, Jeff and I looked at each

other and said, “Let’s go.” I called the folks I had

just told the crushing news to and within minutes

we had seven of us ready to head North.

Twelve hours later, we met Tom and his son Jason

at Lake Louise. The RCMP there were kind and

professional and welcomed us into their offices.

We finished paperwork and arrangements and

headed north to meet our grieving teammates.

I had been in cell contact with our teammates at

the ranger station and fellow MRA members. I just

didn’t want our MRA teammates to hear this on

the news. Our members at home started a callout,

letting our friends and teammates know the tragic

news. Much work and support was done by the

members back in Washington.

In the early evening, we finally met up with Rick,

Kenny, Micah and Mike. I cannot say enough or

thank the folks from Rocky Mountain House Mtn

Rescue Team. When we were in great need, they

truly rescued us. We arrived to a warm meal and

accommodations in their homes. They surrounded

us with protecting, warm compassion as we sat in

Yvette and Scott’s living room and cried, laughed,

talked and told stories. They let us share our grief

in a comfortable, loving place and we are ever

indebted to them.

The next morning we went as a group to the

accident site. Overwhelming grief and tears; a

memorial placed—including an MRA cap. The

healing would begin; it was time to go home.

Our team divided up drivers, we had Russ, John

and Jim’s cars to get home, and started the long

drive west. Jeff and I accompanied Tom and his

son Jason, to Banff to meet with the head ranger

of the recovery effort and then to Calgary to pick

up personal effects and finish arrangements. We

are headed back home for a week of memorials

and life celebrations for our friends.

In closing, I’d like to say a bit about our friends

Russ, John and Jim. I’m sorry I did not get to know

Russ; he worked with John. Everyone talked highly

of his easygoing, great personality.

John had been climbing it seemed his entire life. A

career police officer in Redmond, John was

devoted to the Boy Scouts of America and

Tacoma Mountain Rescue. He was an operations

leader and lead instructor for many of our

trainings. At first meeting, John seemed stern and

professional. That was merely a cover for his

excellent sense of dry humor. His stories of

“speeding ticket excuses” were looked forward to

at our meetings and no one could tell them like

John. He also had a deeply compassionate side

and was in all ways a true friend.

If we took a poll on our team of “most liked”

member, Jim would win hands down every year.

A kinder person I could not imagine. An

experienced and rock-solid rescuer, it always felt

good to know that Jim was on a rescue. Jim never

said cross words and never complained. Truly a

happy soul.

Both John and Jim were the type of friends you

could call in the middle of the night for help. I

know this because I have made those calls to both

of them and they came with no questions asked.

They were two of our most respected and loved

members. They are missed already.