Jump to content

Slesse fatality yesterday?


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 44
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

another early news report:

 

...................................

 

RCMP say survival of a missing climber on Chilliwack's Mount Slesse is unlikely

Sunday, July 08 - 11:30:00 AM

 

Ian Kucerak

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The search for a climber missing on Chilliwack's Mount Slesse is likely to turn into a recovery effort after treacherous conditions on the mountain have prevented rescue crews from reaching his location.

 

The missing Abbotsford man is said to be an experienced mountaineer. He was short-rope climbing with a partner on the mountain's northeast face on Saturday morning when he was hit by a falling block of ice and fell into a crevasse. His partner had to hike 5 hours down the mountain to get help.

 

Chilliwack Mounties say the area is continues to be unpredictable as rocks and ice tumble down the mountain near where the man was struck. Constable Bert Paquet says rescue crews used a helicopter to asses how to make an attempt to reach the lost climber. The Coroner's Service has been called in as crews continue to try and reach the area where the climber fell.

 

......................

 

 

no names yet, which of course feeds the worries.

 

cheers, don

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some more info HERE.

 

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

CHILLIWACK - Rescuers have called off the search for an Abbotsford man presumed dead after being hit by falling ice while climbing a mountain east of Chilliwack early Saturday morning.

 

The 31-year-old man was climbing the steep northeast face of Mount Slesse with a 32-year-old friend from Vancouver around 6 a.m. when the accident happened.

 

The two experienced climbers were tied together, or short-roping, when the victim was hit by an ice block that fell from overhead.

 

His friend was unscathed and was cutting the rope linking them when it broke and the victim fell.

 

The climber disappeared and his friend hiked five hours to get help.

 

Police and Chilliwack Search and Rescue were called, and rescuers spent the day assessing the area where the accident happened.

 

As a result, a recovery mission will not be attempted because of the safety risk to rescuers - the area is unstable, with ice and rock debris still shifting and falling down.

 

According to Chilliwack RCMP, based on the assessment of search-and-rescue experts the chance of survival is unlikely.

 

Police are not releasing the name of the victim or his friend.

 

The rescue situation will be reassessed during a meeting planned for Monday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

His friend was unscathed and was cutting the rope linking them when it broke and the victim fell.

uh...wtf?

 

so sounds like it was a piece of the pocket glacier that uncorked and swept the approach to the ne buttress then?

 

does canada really think it can compete w/ oregon in tauntaun cultivation?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Condolences to all involved.

 

The quote ivan put up jumped out at me too.

 

"His friend was unscathed and was cutting the rope linking them when it broke and the victim fell."

 

 

I don't understand the order of what happened. I am not an alpine climber and am ignorant of its practices and demands. Is the above quote logical to alpinists?

 

Again, RIP to the climber who was killed.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Condolences to all involved.

 

The quote ivan put up jumped out at me too.

 

"His friend was unscathed and was cutting the rope linking them when it broke and the victim fell."

 

 

I don't understand the order of what happened. I am not an alpine climber and am ignorant of its practices and demands. Is the above quote logical to alpinists?

 

Again, RIP to the climber who was killed.

 

I think that given the media's frequent and blatant butchering of the facts when it comes to reporting on climbing accidents, speculating on what happened at this point is like pissin in the wind....of course, sure beats workin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I think that given the media's frequent and blatant butchering of the facts when it comes to reporting on climbing accidents, speculating on what happened at this point is like pissin in the wind....of course, sure beats workin

 

Yeah, cuz as it's currently described, things don't jive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The news report I just read said the rope was cut by the impact of the ice block. Sincere condolences to the friends and family of the deceased climber.

 

"The force of the ice was so great it broke the rope and knocked the Abbotsford man into the crevasse."

 

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=84d41e6f-1d44-498b-b8d1-6bab2eca7248&k=73990

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More detailed article:

 

Search called off for climber presumed dead in fall

Linda Nguyen, Vancouver Sun

Published: Monday, July 09, 2007

 

CHILLIWACK - An experienced alpine climber who was knocked into a crevasse by a slab of ice on Mount Slesse over the weekend is presumed dead.

 

Chilliwack Search and Rescue called off the helicopter search of the Fraser Valley mountain Saturday night, believing the 31-year-old Abbotsford man likely died in the glacier.

 

The area is too unsafe for a rescue or a recovery mission at this time, RCMP spokesman Bert Paquet said in a telephone interview Sunday. "The chance of survival in this specific case was established as unlikely."

 

 

The man had been scaling the steep northeast face of the Chilliwack mountain with a 32-year-old Vancouver man around 6 a.m. Saturday. Neither of the climbers were named.

 

The two were tied together until a massive chunk of ice from an overhang fell and hit the Abbotsford man, severing the rope, and knocking him into a crevasse, Paquet said.

 

The other climber, who was not injured, could no longer see his friend or get a response when he called out.

 

It took him five hours to climb down the mountain to get help.

 

Brad Fandrich, the helicopter pilot who took the search and rescue team and the surviving climber to look for the missing man, described the area as very dangerous. "We knew exactly where the victim was, but we were just trying to assess risk and access," he said. "There was definitely a big risk to the rescue team."

 

Fandrich, a 13-year veteran with Valley Helicopters in nearby Hope, said the surviving climber is still in shock.

 

"He said the chunk of ice that hit his friend was the size of two pickup trucks -- his words," Fandrich said. "The gravity of the situation hadn't affected him yet. He looked tired but he was still holding himself together."

 

Fandrich said the helicopter was in the air for two hours, but only able to spend 30 minutes surveying the rescue site. "I couldn't see anything. To me, it was just a glacier where there was newly crumbled ice," he said.

 

"The spot where the climber fell was in between a crack of the glacier that was 20 to 30 feet deep."

 

He said his company has done search and rescue missions before on Mount Slesse, but this time, the risks of falling ice and rock made it impossible for the helicopter to land.

 

"I didn't want to put the helicopter under the cliff because we could see rocks that had fallen from above, embedded into the glacier," he said.

 

A ground recovery team will not be sent in to look for the missing climber at this time because conditions are still too dangerous, police said. They will decide today if they will return to the site. Mount Slesse, at almost 2,500 metres, is favoured by hikers and climbers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...