pindude Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 Details still coming in... http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/72460_rainier29ww.shtml Quote
MysticNacho Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 crikey! Was this the same storm TG got caught in? Quote
vegetablebelay Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 quote: Originally posted by MysticNacho: crikey! Was this the same storm TG got caught in? TG's was a week ago. Quote
Skisports Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 I really thought hard about doing liberty ridge this past weekend. IT all comes down to Judgement Quote
rock-ice Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 Was mentioned in Skisports inquiry about lib. last week end. Â quote: ...I cannot recommend highly enough that you should wait for good weather. Descending from Thumb Rock and traversing... Wow. Sort of erie ins't it? Quote
climberbro16 Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 Wow they just said that Liberty Ridge was there first climb on Mt. Rainier. Quote
To_The_Top Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 Yuck We cancelled our climb on Rainier due to the weather, probably hard if you come from outta town. Wish to never read news like this. It sounded like the snow cave collapsed, makes me remember some friends stuck up there a few years ago for 10 days. TTT Quote
jja Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 This saturday my partner and I were on the carbon when we decided to bail. We had spent a few minutes that morning listening to the weather on a climbing rangers radio on curtis ridge. It's funny how when you want something to be true you only hear what you want to here - I kept latching on to the part about sunbreaks. Â After a shrug and a noncommittal sort of "let's go" we left curtis and headed up the carbon. That little voice kept eating at me until I finally expressed my doubts to Mick and we made the decision before getting on the route. Â On sunday's hike out we crossed paths with many groups both coming and going. On the winthrop just before we reached st elmo's we spoke briefly with a rope of two men and two women, told them we had changed our minds because of the weather and wished them luck. My thoughts and prayers are with all those they left behind. Quote
Skisports Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 Rock and Ice  most defenatly eire I have had my share of bad trips as most of us have had. I perfer taking those trips for what they are worth and not make the same mistake. especialy when it comes down to weather... Quote
Terminal_Gravity Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 quote: Originally posted by MysticNacho: crikey! Was this the same storm TG got caught in? Yes, it was the same storm...I screwed up on my dates on the TR. I climbed it on the 24th & 25th. Â My condolonces to the families. It sure hurts my heart to think of their life & death struggles while I was on the mountain. Â [ 05-30-2002, 06:24 AM: Message edited by: Terminal Gravity ] Quote
rock-ice Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 I also heard that it was there first climb of Rainier, the same report said that they were Foreigner so you never know how experienced they are. Quote
pete_a Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 My prayers to the climbers' families. Wish someone could've warned those climbers about Liberty Ridge when the weather is bad. That route is an awful place when a storm hits. I have to admit I'm curious to hear how much experience these folks had. Hope the rest of the climbing season on Rainier is free of tragedies. Quote
jules Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 2 of the deceased were German, one was US citizen, but not from the Northwest. Not definite, but I perceived the man who was rescued was not from NW either. Â None had previously attempted/climbed Rainier. Â [ 05-30-2002, 09:12 AM: Message edited by: jules ] Quote
James Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 lots of "there first time on rainier" being pointed out... could be a good point, or not. there are plenty of other mountains around the world with unpredictable weather and committing routes. if you are an experienced climber travelling abroad and you have the choice of hiking up a trade route or taking a classic line to the summit of a coveted peak, what do you do... what do you do? sad, sad, sad... no matter how you look at it. sounds like they had a long hard struggle up there Quote
Alex Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 "First time on Rainier" doesnt hold water with me. My first attempt on Mt Rainier was Liberty Ridge too, in early April, and my party was rolled by a storm when we were at Thumb Rock. We were lucky and got down the mountain and back to the edge of the Carbon and relative safety.  It sounds like this party took a risk, like many parties before them, and tried to tough it out in very poor conditions. They did nothing wrong, besides follow their dreams. Things did not work out. My thoughts for the survivors and families.  Alex  [ 05-30-2002, 10:25 AM: Message edited by: Alex ] Quote
Lowell_Skoog Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 Very sad outcome. It's hard to resist attempting the climb when you arrive from out of town and have only one chance. But there's a long history of people getting caught on this route after setting out in mediocre weather. I recommend waiting for a bomb-proof forecast before trying Liberty Ridge. Quote
iain Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 The party consisted of Oregon State Univ. mountaineering club members. Hardly out of towners. I've met the woman who died, she was taking an introductory mtn'ing course. Don't know about the others. Liberty Ridge epics seem to be a fairly common with OSU students. Quote
jules Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 They were all "experienced" climbers, rock & ice. Â [ 05-30-2002, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: jules ] Quote
Lambone Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 Either way you look at it, this sucks bad... Â It seems too me that the deaths were primarily caused by the collapse of a snow cave. Is this related to inexperience or ambition...who knows. To me it sounds like a freak event that could have happened to anyone, anywhere. Climbing involves risk, sleeping in snow caves involves risk...regardless of where you are from or what your experience is. Â It's really a shame Quote
jules Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Lambone: Either way you look at it, this sucks bad...  Yep  caused by the collapse of a snow cave. One of the climbers stepped on it and punched through. Quote
Norman_Clyde Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 So far I've seen a lot of emphasis placed on the fact that these climbers had come up Liberty Ridge, but in fact they were at 13,900 feet-- i.e. on Liberty Cap, probably on flat terrain-- when they had to hunker down. The route itself is not as important to what happened as the collapse of the snow cave and to their being stuck high on the mountain in a storm. I know I'm reading between the lines, but it sounds to me like they attempted to descend because they were becoming seriously hypothermic and had to get moving. Unfortunately, it sounds like they attempted to descend Liberty Ridge instead of the Winthrop/Emmons. But they may have been disoriented as to direction. It also sounds like the one survivor did descend Liberty ridge solo, while missing the hard shell from one plastic boot. A difficult task for sure. Quote
Dru Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Norman Clyde: So far I've seen a lot of emphasis placed on the fact that these climbers had come up Liberty Ridge, but in fact they were at 13,900 feet-- i.e. on Liberty Cap, probably on flat terrain-- when they had to hunker down. The route itself is not as important to what happened as the collapse of the snow cave and to their being stuck high on the mountain in a storm. I know I'm reading between the lines, but it sounds to me like they attempted to descend because they were becoming seriously hypothermic and had to get moving. Unfortunately, it sounds like they attempted to descend Liberty Ridge instead of the Winthrop/Emmons. But they may have been disoriented as to direction. It also sounds like the one survivor did descend Liberty ridge solo, while missing the hard shell from one plastic boot. A difficult task for sure. Bruce Hendricks lost one of his plastics at the bivi ledge on Supercouloir on Mt Deltaform in the 90s and finished the climb (he was soloing) with a crampon strapped on to his foot clad in 6 pairs of wool socks Quote
vegetablebelay Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Norman Clyde: Unfortunately, it sounds like they attempted to descend Liberty Ridge instead of the Winthrop/Emmons. I haven't read anything that made me jump to this conclusion. Quote
freeclimb9 Posted May 30, 2002 Posted May 30, 2002 Vegetable, I would think the guy would've stopped at Camp Schurman if he descended Emmons/Winthrop for help. But maybe the camp isn't currently staffed? The paper reported he made a call from St. Elmo pass area. It's all speculation, really. Quote
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