Mt Washington Deaths

[steepconcrete]

Just saw it on KVAL, two people dead.

 

I'll look for a news link.

 

edit-nothing, not even on KVAL.com. Sad.

Edited August 1, 2004 by steepconcrete

[gapertimmy]

i just heard a blurb on our local news in bend, said the climbers were from washington... with more info at 11pm. not good.

[gapertimmy]

LBANY, Ore. (AP) — The bodies of two climbers killed on Mount Washington in the central Oregon Cascades were recovered Saturday by Jefferson County sheriff's deputies.

 

From Our Advertiser

 

 

 

 

 

Linn County Sheriff Dave Burright said Thomas A. Seifert, 46, of Goldendale, Wash., and Gary L. Glentz, 50, of White Salmon, Wash., planned a one-day climb of the 7,794-foot rocky peak Thursday and that relatives contacted Deschutes County deputies when they did not return as scheduled.

 

Deschutes County deputies found their car near Big Lake. Burright's office was notified and a search began. The mountain is on Linn County's east border.

 

Jefferson County deputies found the bodies, still roped together, on the west side of the mountain at about 11 a.m. at the 7,190-foot level.

 

Both were experienced climbers but this apparently was their first attempt at Mount Washington, a fairly short climb but with a difficult pinnacle at the top.

 

It was not climbed until 1923.

 

Burright said an equipment failure may have been to blame.

 

The deputies were joined by mountain rescue teams from Eugene and Corvallis, the Linn County Explorer Scouts' search and rescue post, the Linn County Mounted Posse and the 1042nd Army National Guard.

 

The bodies were airlifted from the mountain to a funeral home in Sweet Home.

[iain]

It looked like they were on Chimney of Space or Central Pillar. Based on the arrangement of gear and other observations, it appeared to involve a factor 2 leader fall onto the belay quite high up on the route. The belay ripped and both fell a very large distance. This is simply speculation.

[iain]

Approaching

 

Approaching the West Ridge

 

The location of the subjects (the yellow dots are on-scene)

 

Heading home

 

I'm sorry we could not do anything for these climbers. It hit home a bit as a mountain that I have had such good times on and learned so much from became a sad place.

[ivan]

did they have a stated route in mind?

[matt_m]

This one hits fairly close to home. One of the victims was the brother of a coworker of mine. Any other details are greatly appreciated as the local news coverage is already frustrating. Reporters need to learn that the phrase "equipment failure" is a VERY broad term and often implies the wrong thing. Not sure how else to succinctly describe it but one AP report makes it sound as if their harnesses ripped off or something. Not fair to the families or community at large.

[Don_Gonthier]

My guess from the pictures above and from haveing done the route is the West Face. It's the easiest route in that area at 5.6 and the guide paints it as a moderate route. As I remember though, it was under-rated, more like 5.8 or 9 and it was poorly protected, at least an R if not an X on the crux pitch. I have talked to others who have climbed it and all agreed. One person I know has climbed it 3 times and said that there is a way to make it 5.6 but it involves an inobviouse traverse at the start of the crux pitch. If it is the West Face this is the second accident involving anchor failure on that route in 4 years. It might be a good idea to get the word out that that route and the entire Mt. is a bit more of an adventure than the guide books would imply.

[iain]

I believe the previous accident (several years ago, featured in some "epics" feature in Rock & Ice) was actually on Central Pillar, 5.8, which is to the right of the West Face. The West Face did not seem like .8 or .9 to me, but it certainly is poorly protected on the first pitch and a fall seems fairly out of the question. However, the rock is quite nice on the second pitch, and while the third "pitch" is garbage, it would be hard to fall off of it. It is evident these climbers fell from high up.

 

Though it does look like they are near the start of West Face, I still think these guys were on either Central Pillar, or Chimney of Space, both of which could be considered poorly-protected high off the ground, and also occasionally damp and slippery in the shade of the West Ridge.

 

Regardless, I'd certainly agree with Don that any of these routes are nothing like routes of comparable grade at Smith or Leavenworth. Oregon High might be a little generous about the praise it gives to these west face routes, but as with any alpine rock climbing, buyer beware.

 

As far as "equipment failure" goes, the two climbers were still roped together, there was no pro attached to the rope, and the rope was intact. One climber still had a belay device attached to the rope. The other had gear racked on the harness.

[ivan]

doesn't that sound like there was no anchor at all then? otherwise anchor components should be attached to the belayer, right?

[iain]

Yes, you would think so. I will have to check in with those who were on the ground to get more info, as I was dealing with stuff in the helicopter.

 

Rockfall could also be a possibility. They could have been on the West Face as well, it's hard to tell. The routes are not entirely obvious. I forgot that the climbers on that last accident on Washington were not sure where they were either, and their description of the route they were climbing made it sound like the West Face.

[rbw1966]

They earlier party (Smith and partner) thought they were on the West Face. At least thats what he told me when I gave him pics of his rescue.

[Lambone]

dude, we didn't need to see a picture of them lying in the talus....come on man.

[iain]

I can assure you that you can't see them. If a photo of a ground team and packs lying in the talus offends you, I will remove it though.

[roger3k]

Just wanted to say "thanks" to those that have shared information. I am a friend/climbing partner/coworker of both guys and was the one who actually called SAR. The last few days have been terrible but reading the beta has seemed to help... Thanks again. RMK

[roger3k]

BTW-Gary's last name is Gentz not Glentz! (damn media)

[Johnny_R]

The pictures tell a huge and sad story. Any one who's been on Washington knows just how lousy the rock is and how committing the routes can be. Summer before last I backed off of Central Pillar after testing the crux and did the North Ridge instead - I sure wish these guys would have had the same option. My condolences.

[retired]

Regarding the ratings on the west face, about 1990 30 feet of the origninal route fell off changing the climb. I felt like it was about 5.7 pre rock fall. Seeing the yellow dots( which didn't offend me in the least) in the picture west face came to mind but falling anywhere in the vicinity would end where they were found. Very sad news condolences to any freinds and family

[Johnny_R]

Selected info from 8/3 Register-Guard (Iain is quoted in the full article):

 

"MOUNT WASHINGTON - Officials involved in the search for and recovery of two experienced climbers who fell to their deaths here last week haven't determined the cause of the fall but they issued a warning: Beware the mountain's loose rock.

 

Although the Deschutes National Forest could not provide statistics, the fatalities were thought to be the first in 10 to 12 years on Mount Washington.

 

Seifert and Gentz chose the West Face route, an approach that is significantly more challenging than the standard northern route, rescuers said.

 

Rescuers found no obvious signs of equipment failure, but they are unable to say whether the climbers had adequately secured ropes and other gear to the mountain.

 

"It's going to take experts to look at the evidence and conclude what happened," said Mark Foster of the Jefferson County sheriff's office search-and-rescue unit.

 

In an incident in the same area on Mount Washington in 2000, two climbers fell after their equipment failed to hold, Morris said. They dropped more than 100 feet but survived, landing in deep snow."

 

For complete article go to: http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/08/03/d1.cr.mountainsafety.0803.html

Edited August 4, 2004 by Johnny_R

[cracked]

Shit. I did the West Face a while back, and though it is not harder than 5.6 and the climb is pretty obvious, a lead fall can easily rip any anchor you could build.

[Epic_Eric]

I'm the guy who set a poor anchor on Central Pillar and fell 100 feet with my buddy Kurt in 2000. Three anchor pieces and three or four lead pieces came out by shattering the brittle rock. The yellow dots are very close to where we landed. We had a late-June snowfield to break our falls, and we only received broken legs. A friend of mine also ripped a cam on West Face last year and broke a heel bone. I am deeply saddened that these men have lost their lives and that their families and friends will be left to grieve for them. I had hoped that by writing a piece for Climbing (Sept 2002) and spreading the word that climbers would stop risking their lives on this junk pile.

[rbw1966]

Hey Eric--

 

My buddy and I climbed Washington the weekend you were rescued. I have some photos I took of the rescue and gave a set to Kurt.

 

While the rock in most places on Washington is pretty chossing and brittle, there are spots where it is solid and takes gear well. Perhaps this route should be avoided rather than the entire mountain.

[Xcott]

I'm the friend of Eric's who busted a heel last year on West Face: my first serious lead fall in 15 years of rock climbing and my own damned fault for opening the window enough to let a series of snake eyes roll through. I'd like to add something to the preceding discussion regarding just how loose the West Face route has become - or at least the particular version of it which I followed - and why this doesn't fit with earlier beta. And yes, I deeply regret not saying this before now, in case it might have made some difference. Skip to the last two paragraphs for the upshot.

 

Last August, when getting ready to start the West Face, I twice had stool-sized ledges of what had seemed solid basalt auto-pulverize out from under me, instantaneously and after having held for 30 seconds or so while I stood there sorting out my rack. Hmmm, I thought, this is strange, as I had been assured that the West Face offered solid rock by a local climbing sage (who is not JT, but can go by the pseudonymous initial X, and of who's reliability on such points I still have the very highest opinion). This of course checked with Oregon High. "Except for the beta", I thought, "I would blow this route off right now, but let's just see if the rock doesn't improve a ways up."

 

Now, so you can consider the source, I consider myself a loose rock climber, having enjoyed all kinds of garbage, including wintertime wet trash adventures in the Columbia Gorge with X. I used to think that was about as loose as it got.

 

The first pitch, though an easy ramp, was the by far the loosest I have experienced. Being new to Washington's west side, I was very carefully following the line (#9) drawn on the photo on pg.s 74 and 77 of Oregon High, and found the first anchor where it was supposed to be. (So yes, I'm certain I was on the route.) A 15' or so traverse to the left begins the second pitch - according to the photos - at the end of which I rounded a corner and stood on a 1' square ledge from which you can first see the next part up close. The rock looked completely different: colored the light brown of freshly exposed basalt, rather than the weathered grey of the rest of the mountain; a perfectly sheer, 70-80 degree incline, broken only by a honeycomb pattern of 1/2" cracks on 10' spacing, extending, I think, at least 100' up. (I associate this memory with the lower portion of the lighter area in Iain's closest photo, shaped like the character for pi tipped on its right side. More on this area in the next post.) It looked to me like continuous 10© or harder, and too unreliable to pull on, as the cracks seemed to reveal that the rock was getting ready to exfoliate a new layer from a depth of 1/2" or so. This is where I turned around, not willing to deviate from the book's line in that neighborhood. (I fell while retreating the traverse.)

 

That evening, I discussed what I saw with a Jefferson County Sheriff who was with the SAR team, on exercises that weekend from their base at Hoodoo. He said that the reason the mountain was getting so loose was the pattern of milder winters in recent years. (X's above mentioned opinion of the rock's high quality had been formed several years earlier, while Oregon High's concurring opinion was published in 1991.) The melt-freeze cycle is now active almost daily throughout the winter, instead for only a few weeks at winter's beginning & end, dramatically accelerating frost-shattering. (This powerful process of erosion is responsible for the peaks of the North Cascades being kept trimmed to a +/-uniform 9000', despite a cumulative uplift of ~80,000' since the North Cascades microcontinent first docked on North America and being made of granitic basement rock - which is much harder than the basalt of old volcanic cores.)

 

Rock quality seems to have degenerated quite a bit on the west face, and, in light of the above facts, that sherriff's is the only plausible explanation I know.

 

- Scott

 

PS: Jefferson County SAR and the National Guard copter crew that picked me up we're the absolute greatest. I can only adequately thank them by endeavoring to pass it on.

[Xcott]

The following was provided to me by Jeff Thomas, author of Oregon High, to post on his behalf. I've included a few annotations in []'s.

 

- Scott

 

-----------------

 

"The only information I can add to what you wrote is second hand from Tom who has climbed Mt. Washington at least once every year since circa 1960. According to him a huge chunk of the west face fell off several years ago. I cannot remember what his estimate was but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 foot by 30 to 40 feet. I have a close up wide angle black and white photo of the face taken July 24, 1986 in late afternoon. [Pasted in below; Available in higher resolution by email (~400kB).] It is the same photo which appears on page 77 of Oregon High. [it actually shows more, as the published photo was cropped from below.] Perhaps someone who has taken a photo of the west face recently could post their photo for comparison so that we could get a better estimate of exactly what fell off where. [iain's photo is a beauty, but it'd be great to see something closer up, in case anyone can get the shot.]

 

Jeff Thomas"

[Xcott]

OK, I wasn't able to make the photo show in the message body, but you can view it by following the "attachment" link in the header of the last post.