Slesse Globe and Mail Article

[peas]

Did anyone catch the article on the Slesse Plane crash in this past Saturday's Globe and Mail Focus Section?

 

The 50th anniversary of the crash was on the 9th of December, so the daughter of one of the passengers on flight 810 wrote a short article for the Globe. One of the main focuses of the article was that the people who died there haven't been given much respect over the years. Logging of the park, looting of the personal effects of the victims, mistreatment of remains, families being kept in the dark, etc. The part that is relevant to this forum is that the article wasn't particularly flattering to hikers or climbers. The author didn't come out and say it, but it seemed as though she felt that people shouldn't climb Slesse as a sign of respect for the people who have died there.

 

That part of the article irked me a bit, but I haven't been able to explain why yet. I'd like to write a response, but haven't been able to put together why the thought of barring people from the area bothers me so much.

 

Did anyone else read this article? Any thoughts?

[G-spotter]

I think planes shouldn't fly into a mountain popular with climbers, as a sign of respect for a popular climbing area.

[G-spotter]

BTW,

 

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/616049/page/1#Post616049

[gertlush]

Nice to know I'm not the only person who picked up on that...I sent off a letter to the editor but didn't see it or any other letters on this topic published. The fact that Slesse had been climbed before the plane hit the mountain seems to have escaped the author 'a writer living in Toronto.'

[plumbbob]

This is something I started to write in the early 90's. The climbing took place in the summer of 1977.

Bob Plumb

 

North Face - Liberty Bell

Mount Slesse Experience

 

We had been climbing together since spring. Dave was to go to Alaska Range with Becky and party. Trip bombed and I was picking cherries. Finished and suggested Devils Thumb. So we planned a series of training climbs.

 

Leavenworth - Home, plan, background.

 

Travel to "Lady Of The Lake" to Lucerne. Rode a bus with a load of little kids to Holden Village. Left em' all behind. Hike to pass between North Star mountain and South West Buttress of Bonanza. Goats. Beautiful camp.

 

Russian route: not what we expected. Much third class with a rotten difficult section. (Scared shitless!) Made the top at sun set. Decended talus to camp.

 

Horrible hike out to Agness creek. Saw a "wild" black bear. Out Agness creek to shuttle to Stehekin. Daves' feet were in bad shape, so we passed up the hike to Goode.

 

Took "Lady of the Lake" to Chelan, then hitch hiked to Washington Pass. Arrive late next day. Hike up and do a blitz on North Face.

 

Started up as the sun was about to set in the west. Sun on the north face. Solo bottom half. Did two pitches to top. (5.8) Rappels on regular decent and back to camp before dark.

 

Next morning we started for Belingham and Daves' friends from Stevens Pass. Dave left ice ax at Washington Pass.

 

A couple days in Bellingham, then ? (Art?) drove us to Mount Slesse. Met (? Steinbock?). Camp below the east face after a thrash through logging slash.

 

Across pocket glacier to ridge. Very warm. The crux was face Dave burnt out on and I finished the pitch. Dave seconded to major ledge and collapsed. Spent a warm night there. Party from Vancouver on North West Ridge. All met on summit next noon. We down climbed as they rapelled. Then a rap together. They continued down the regular route down the west side. We headed off along the high west slopes, looking for the gully that decended to camp.

 

My boots were old. Shanks broken. We were decending steep hard snow in the first gully and my toes were killing me. So instead of facing in I decided to plunge step. Made two and blew out. Cartwheeled 300 feet down into moat on side. All I did was bite my tongue. Pretty shook up. Climbed down a short rock step and bent over for a drink from a pool. Pelvic bone shocked me. Started looking around. Bones and bits of metal everywhere. Not thirsty anymore. Wandered down a little further and gully ends and east face begins. Wrong gully.

 

Back up, calling to Dave. Plane still hanging above the gully. I kicked steps. Got over the pain in my toes. Fear factor.

 

Decended the right gully. Snow all the way.

 

Camp infested with three bears. Drove em' off with ice axes. A lazy rest day. Hiking around. Memorial below east face. Pocket glacier. Smooth, polished slabs.

 

Next day we took the food out to the middle of the slab, cached it, and continued around towards the North Face Lowe Route. Dash under North East Buttress Pocket Glacier between ice falls to toe of N. E. But..

 

Crampons on and mine broke just above. Gold Chouinard rigid. Back off. Spent time eating and watching avalanches from pocket glacier.

 

Then headed to food cache. We were sitting there and both just got up and headed for camp. Just off the slab and up on the moraine. The entire glacier below the east face suicided. Huge blocks avalanched over our route.

 

Shook up, we packed and headed home. A long walk out logging roads and hitch hiking back to Bellingham. Then Leavenworth.

 

Sold my car and Dave and I headed to Devils Thumb.

 

[wolffie]

I'm sure I, and most of the dead, would be really pissed-off if anybody avoided a wonderful place out of misplaced "respect" for my dead carcass.

 

I just stumbled upon a 2005 photo of the NE buttress and was astonished to see it so dry. In 1985 when we climbed it, both of the basins on either side of the buttress were filled with glacier ice. On the 3rd pitch, the left-hand pocket glacier slid off its bed right before our eyes, still probably the most astonishing thing I've ever seen.