slothrop Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Fer cryin' out loud... there are two parties in need of rescue on Liberty Ridge. Just saw it on the news. Good luck to the climbers and rescuers. Quote
iain Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 I bet congress gets involved like they did in Oregon. "Those jokers on the mountain" I seem to recall from a committee hearing... Quote
CascadeClimber Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 She's pissed off this year. And her bite is worse than her bark. Godspeed to the rescuers and let's all be extra careful out there. -L Quote
griz Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 It would be interesting to know if more people are climbing the rte. now for 'the chestbeat factor' of doing a rte that others have died on this year? Or just a bad string of luck for climbers on one rte? Quote
layton Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Hmmmm, it's been AWFUL HOT and the fall was at 9000'....probably rockfall off of thumb rock. I am not chastizing anyone here, but let's think about the weather and conditions before we go climbing. Liberty Ridge is gonna be around and in good conditions a lot longer than any of us will live to see. Several people died on the route the day I did it several years ago b/c they were moving too slow. Quote
magellan Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Komo4.com is reporting two climbers 'in over their heads' and a team from montana,one dead and one missing. All on LR. Quote
pope Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Liberty Ridge being one of the 50 classics, I'm curious about what fraction of parties come from out of state. I would guess that climbers who arrive from other parts of the country are less likely to bail when conditions turn out to be less than perfect. Quote
NEWSTIPS Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 More trouble on Mount Rainier 10:52 PM PDT on Thursday, June 17, 2004 By KARIN CZULIK / KING5.com KING Mount Rainier's northside is notorious for difficult and dangerous routes. PARADISE, Wash. – Two separate climbing parties on Washington's Mount Rainier were in trouble Thursday evening. Both emergencies are taking place on and near Liberty Ridge – the place where two other climbers have died within the last month. Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold confirmed that one climbing party is missing and another called 911 from Liberty Ridge. On June 11, two climbers from Montana headed up the Liberty Ridge route. They were expected to come back from their climb Monday. When they did not return, a search-and-rescue was called for the two overdue Missoula, Mont., men in their 20s. Rangers in a helicopter searching around noon Thursday spotted a motionless body facedown at the 9,000-foot level on Carbon Glacier, on the 14,411-foot peak's north side. The climber was believed to have taken a fall. There was no sign of the other climber. 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. Two climbing rangers have been dispatched via helicopter to Curtis Ridge, from where they will begin their search Friday morning. Resources Who pays for rescues? In a separate incident, two climbers called by cell phone saying they were stuck on Liberty Ridge. They have food and are healthy at this time. Park officials say there was bad weather on the mountain during the weekend, with 100 mile-per-hour winds at the mountain's high camps and extensive snowfall. Quote
chirp Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Cell phones are obviously the "foam pads" of the alpine set...granted the conveinence of having a rescue at your fingertips is very nice but what is the actual cost of such convenience and does it precipitate a casual attitude towards potentially hazardous undertakings? Thusly causing society to view climbers as a nuisance and a waste of taxpayers money. Really WTF kind of illusions are we creating? Quote
Chad_A Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Criticism aside, I just hope the outcome is for the best. Doesn't sound so good for now, though. My thoughts are with the families and the rescuers. Quote
Fuggedaboudit Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Hopefully the climber that they saw on the Carbon has a partner who can be helped. Those climbing rangers and the helicopter pilots are doing one hell of a job this year. And if your only source of information about Rainier and rescues has been the last two tradgedies as reported on TV all a cellphone would give you confidence of is quick notice to next of kin. Neither of the two parties resorted to cellphones until a serious fall had occurred. Neither party called for assistance because they were in over their head, they called in to attempt to save an injured companion's life. I dont think it is quite the Chamonoix syndrome yet where people call in helicopters because they forgot their brie. Quote
fear Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Hopefully the climber that they saw on the Carbon has a partner who can be helped. Those climbing rangers and the helicopter pilots are doing one hell of a job this year. And if your only source of information about Rainier and rescues has been the last two tradgedies as reported on TV all a cellphone would give you confidence of is quick notice to next of kin. Neither of the two parties resorted to cellphones until a serious fall had occurred. Neither party called for assistance because they were in over their head, they called in to attempt to save an injured companion's life. I dont think it is quite the Chamonoix syndrome yet where people call in helicopters because they forgot their brie. Ditto that. Each unfortunate rescue has produced a dead body, not some hungry hiker. And each of the first two accidents involved very experienced guys who just ran out of luck. Hopefully everyone else will be ok...... -Fear Quote
dmuja Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 sounds like these guys never got to thier cell phones, they were over due Monday! (r i p ). Just watch though, its getting in the news so much now that some stupid ass politician is going to try to score some points with some more stupid ass restrictions proposed - after all, its what they do best.. Quote
NCNate Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 More trouble on Mount Rainier Park officials say there was bad weather on the mountain during the weekend, with 100 mile-per-hour winds at the mountain's high camps and extensive snowfall. My thoughts are definitely with the families and the rescuers. What is up with this though? I don't understand why they still went with conditions like that. The mountain will still be there. If conditions are bad, why not write it off and go next time? Have they ever just closed a route? This many accidents in so little time is going to draw lots of negative attention. Quote
NEWSTIPS Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 [quote Have they ever just closed a route? This many accidents in so little time is going to draw lots of negative attention. That is an excellent question. The next media briefing is at 7:45am PDT. I'll try to get in touch with my crew to see if they can ask that question. Quote
MysticNacho Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Why would the rescuers start from curtis ridge? Are they going to traverse below the willis wall to look for bodies? On a seperate thought, anyone know how many people typically climb lib ridge in a year, compared to other routes? I wouldn't be surprised if it was third most popular behind the DC and emmons. Quote
MysticNacho Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Looks like I found my own answer on komo4.com..... approx 200 people climb lib ridge per year. Is that how many are successful or how many who attempt? Quote
pete_a Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 MysticNatcho- The standard route to get to the base of lib. ridge traverses the winthrop glacier and descends off of lower curits ridge at around 7000-7500ft onto the carbon glacier...the rangers are probably starting there in order to retrace the likely route up the carbon to see if the lost climber can be found somewhere along the way. Quote
minx Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Cell phones are obviously the "foam pads" of the alpine set...granted the conveinence of having a rescue at your fingertips is very nice but what is the actual cost of such convenience and does it precipitate a casual attitude towards potentially hazardous undertakings? Thusly causing society to view climbers as a nuisance and a waste of taxpayers money. Really WTF kind of illusions are we creating? Chirp, respectfully, i think that is an assanine statement. I really don't believe that climbers are more casual in their route selection or judgement of a situation b/c they're carrying cell phones. i would assume that nearly every climber who undertakes a route like lib ridge would assume that they would have no cell phone service and if they do it's just good fortune. i can't imagine that climbers are counting on cell phones to save their asses. most areas in the mountains i have no cell service. i still throw that phone in my pack just in case but by no means am i relying in any way on that phone if i need a rescue. Quote
NEWSTIPS Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Mt Rainier Climbing Rangers have confirmed that the 2 Montana gentlemen who were unaccounted for on Liberty Ridge have been confirmed deceased. One body has been recovered, the other body is still missing and presumed dead. They are now trying to find the body. As for the second pair of climbers who called 911 requesting assisting climbing out, they appear to be in good condition and are awaiting assistance from the Park Rangers as soon as they get some folks freed up from the first incident. Quote
fear Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 MysticNatcho- The standard route to get to the base of lib. ridge traverses the winthrop glacier and descends off of lower curits ridge at around 7000-7500ft onto the carbon glacier...the rangers are probably starting there in order to retrace the likely route up the carbon to see if the lost climber can be found somewhere along the way. A fall from higher up the ridge past Thumb would likely dump you either into the huge crevasses at the base of the Willis Wall or on top close to it. Either way, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in that area just for a body recovery. I'd imagine a helicopter would be the "safest" way. -Fear Quote
NEWSTIPS Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Mt Rainier Climbing Rangers have confirmed that the 2 Montana gentlemen... Oops. Correction. 1 man was from Montana and the other was a North Cascades ranger. They were climbing together and evidence suggests they may have been hit by an avalanche. Quote
Bug Posted June 18, 2004 Posted June 18, 2004 Just an fyi. Greg_w, BillyGoat and I went up to do Gib ledges a couple months ago and did not like the snow quality then. We backed off. It has continued to snow off and on with no significant warm periods to consolidate the snow. The upper mountain is blown clear and hard. I have canceled two later trips since then because of snow conditions. I am not a hardman but I am not a lightweight either. I would go up if I thought conditions were even moderately good. I also have the luxury of being able to trot on down there on a weekend but spending money on a plane ticket should not influence your decisions on a mountain. Why do so many people ask "What is going on up there this year?" I'll tell you. CONDITIONS SUCK! They will not change until it warms up and clears off and does not snow again. You can't set reliable protection in deep soft snow and you have to set good protection in hard ice which will slow you down. Meanwhile, weather systems continue to threaten. Sure, you can push up there with a good team or even two good solo climbers. But if you fall, you will fall a long ways. Some of these experienced climbers who pushed up there found this out. There are no minor mistakes up there right now. Self arresting on ice is nearly impossible once you get moving fast. Not easy in steep soft snow either. If you can't guarantee yourself that you will not trip or slip, don't go up there right now. Sorry to go off on you like that but I am tired of people looking at me like I am crazy because I climb Rainier. I have carefully chosen not to be up there so far this year. Live to climb another day. Quote
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