Climbing News: Denali and Hood Deaths, Karakorum Season Starts
It has been a difficult few days in the mountains with several deaths that are hard to understand. On the heels of 10 Everest deaths this season, the media has taken more than a casual interest in these climbing deaths. Interestingly however, they have not attracted the same frenzied calls for regulations, drugstore limits or boycotts that the deaths on Everest encouraged. Four Killed on Denali The largest event was reported on Mt. McKinley aka Denali where on June 14, 2012 four Japanese climbers were caught in an avalanche in an area not known for deadly events. They were descending a slope named Motorcycle Hill, which is about a 35 degree angle, when the slide began. They tried to outrun it but the snow caught them as the climbers slipped down the snow ladened slope. All five climbers were traveling on the same rope, not uncommon. It is presumed they were pushed into into a deep crevasse from the avalanche. One of the climbers, 69 year-old Hitoshi Ogi was able to climb out of the crevasse but his four teammates apparently died in the fall. They were Yoshiaki Kato, 64, Masako Suda, 50, Michiko Suzuki 56, and 63-year-old Tamao Suzuki, 63. This was the first attempt of Denali for any on the team. It is assumed they had not summited due to poor weather earlier in the week. This is somewhat of a mystery in that Motorcycle Hill, while a bit steep is a well known part of the normal route on Denali’s West Buttress trade route. While avalanches can occur on this slope, they are not overly common. What happened to the climbers is unclear but it was reported their rope broke, very unusual, and they could not stop the slide. The slide started at 11,800′, was 200′ wide and 800′ long. The debris pile was 3 to 4 feet. I have climbed up and down this same slope many times and have never seen signs of avalanche danger. However, 2012 has been a high snow year with dangerous winds and temps all season reducing the normal 50+% summit percentage down into the mid 30% range. When fresh snow occurs on this route, the standard process is to wait a day or two for it to settle and consolidate before climbing. But this technique is used for more deadly areas such as the Autobahn just above the 17,000′ High Camp or perhaps near Windy Corner. Both of these locations have seen avalanche related deaths in the past. This one is the first on Motorcycle Hill. Another avalanche was reported a few days earlier but much higher on the mountain with no incident. A two day search was conducted including aerial and dog teams plus an exploration of the crevasse that Ogi fell into but yielded no success. My condolences to their friends and family. These deaths bring the total to six on Denali this season. Mt. Hood On Mt. Hood, 11,237′, in Oregon last Thursday, June 15 a very experienced climber, Mark Cartier, 56, of Portland fell to his death near the summit. It was reported he fell near 11,000 foot level into the area known as the Hogsback for a 1,000′. It is unclear what started the fall. He was climbing solo in excellent conditions. I have climbed in that exact area and can attest that can be tricky. We climbed roped and one of our members fell but we were able to arrest his fall. This is the second climbing death this season on Hood. I appreciate this balanced report by Portland’s KWCN of the death: Karakorum News In other climbing news the Karakorum season is underway with several teams attempting the big 8000 meter mountains of the Gasherbrum (s), Broad Peak and of course K2. One climber to watch is Canadian Al Hancock who is climbing Broad Peak first to acclimatize then hoping to make short order of K2. This technique is a perennial favorite for some operators but rarely results in a K2 summit. Also follow Brad Jackson who is blogging via his Facebook page as he attempts Broad Peak. An interesting storyline is from Swedish climber Anneli Wester who wants to pitch her tent and sleep on the summit of Gasherbrum II K2 continues to be on one of the most difficult 8000m climbs in the world. There are around 10 expeditions on K2 this summer. A courageous winter effort by a very strong Russian team did not summit this past winter. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
1 Dead, 2 Missing on Mt. Hood
Multiple news agencies are reporting on 1 dead and 2 climbers missing on Mt. Hood as of Saturday, December 12. They left the Timberline Wy’east Day Lodge at 1:00 a.m. Friday morning for a 12 hour climb up the Reid Glacier but never returned. Friends alerted Search and Rescue (SAR) when they failed to return as scheduled. Yesterday 26 year-old climber Luke Gullberg was found dead near 9, 000 feet. Climbing gear was found strewn randomly on the glacier. Angles in this area reach 60 degrees. 30 SAR personnel were involved in the efforts on Saturday and reported the area was avalanche prone and conditions were dangerous. Sunday no foot searches were launched based on the conditions and a military helicopter was requested to continue the search. The climbers registered their plan at the Lodge but were not carrying any type of locator beacon. The other climbers are 24-year-old Anthony Vietti and 29-year-old Katti Nolan. Mt Hood has been the scene of multiple deaths and rescues over the past decade. 10, 000 people attempt Hood each year and there have been 130 deaths. Rescues are highly publicized and in fact, Hood was the scene of a helicopter crash in 2002 shown on national television during a rescue attempt. In 2006, 3 climbers died in a highly visible search. The worst event was of 9 students who died in a storm in 1986. With every search, regardless of the result, a debate is fueled as to who should pay for SAR; should climbers be forced to carry locator beacons such as SPOT devices or should climbing be allowed at all. The debate is usually emotionally filled. In 2007, the Oregon legislature tried to mandate locator beacons for all climbers but the measure failed. Climbers argue that mountains and climbing are part of everyone’s domain and should never be regulated. The other viewpoints speak of huge costs incurred by the hundreds of people and equipment in avoidable situations. However, this is rarely cited for rescues by the Coast Guard. Climbers account for 3.4% of the SAR activity in Oregon; hunters and other people getting lost account for the majority of searches. Often, the point is ignored that SAR individuals are for the most part volunteers. Climbers argue that regulating climbing would reduce the experience. As climbers know, sometimes incidents in mountains occur that are unavoidable and are just part of mountaineering. However, it is true that climbers will, through ambition or otherwise, put themselves in situations that could have been avoided such as ignoring weather forecasts or not carrying locator beacons given the risks of winter climbing. Personally, I always carefully evaluate weather and avalanche conditions plus the forecast; I now own a SPOT locator beacon and always carry sufficient gear to survive overnight even in harsh winter conditions. Yet, one day, I too may need the services of SAR. To that end I an annual Colorado Search and Rescue Card, CORSAR, for $3. While this is not insurance, by purchasing a CORSAR card I am contributing to the Search and Rescue Fund, which will reimburse teams for costs incurred in a search and rescue. My condolences to all the families involed and let’s hope the remaining two are found safe. Oregonlive has an excellent summary of the situation. Update: Monday 14 December Multiple aircraft conducted air searches on Sunday and will resume today when the weather allows. It is still termed a search effort at this point. Update: Wednesday 16 December With substantial new snow falling on Mt. Hood over the past two days, no ground and limited air searches have taken place. With no contact now for 5 days, a doctor at the mountain today put their survival chances at 1%. Officials changed the status to a recovery mission as of late Wednesday.
Mt. Hood
U.S. Oregon 11,237 feet 3,426 meters Trip Report July, 2004 Mt. Hood is one of several volcanoes on the west coast of the U.S. It is located fifty miles east of the city of Portland, Oregon, in the Mt. Hood National Forest near the windy town of Hood River. It is very easy to reach the trailhead since it starts at the parking lot of Timberline Lodge which is the base for the ski runs located on Hood’s southern slopes. It is common to see skiers high up on Hood. But it can also be very dangerous as evidenced by the deaths in 2002 of climbers falling into a crevasse and a helicopter rescue gone bad. In final preparation for climbing Mt. Rainier, I summited Hood in July 2004 with two friends, Bryan and Ian. We used the standard route named the Hogsback. It was a long but straightforward day. We climbed independently most of the time but roped up near the summit since the final ridge was quite exposed, and it was extremely windy that day. The previous day, we visited the Timberline Lodge to get final information and register with the Park Service. But all the offices closed at 1:30 PM so we were on our own. We got the paperwork from a self-service registration stand next to the trailhead as we left for dinner. At the Mt. Hood Inn, we spread all our gear on the lawn for a final check and a quick refresher course on crevasse rescue and rope travel. We started at 2:00 AM after a short night at the nearby Inn. The route was clearly marked with a big sign stating “Climber’s Route” and yellow discs on tall poles. It is designed to take climbers along the east side of the ski runs. The starting elevation is 5,800 feet. The steady slope rises two miles to the top of the ski runs at a 30-degree grade. The wind was picking up as we reached 8,600′. I was pretty surprised to see only two other people climbing on this day since Hood has a reputation of being crowded. It could have been the winds! As we reached a small plateau at about 9,000′ the winds were blowing a steady 30 m.p.h. with gusts to 50 and occasionally to 70. All three of us were knocked off our feet several times. Going higher seemed foolish in these conditions, and just as I was about to suggest turning back, it calmed. Well, at least it stopped gusting! As the sun came up, we were treated to the shadow of Hood off to the west. We sighted Crater Rock ahead and to our left and headed up a slightly steeper snow slope. The smell of sulfur filled the air, so I knew we were close to the Devil’s Kitchen, a caldron of steam vents. The ground became mixed with snow and rock as the warmth from the vents kept the snow away in July. I was a little slower than my friends, and given their lack of experience with rope travel (plus I had the rope) and exposure to snow ridges, they waited patiently at the base of the Hogsback about 10,600′. Looking at the ridge, it was clear we needed to rope up for safety. So on with the harnesses as I pulled the rope out of my pack. I led the relatively short climb up the ridge. A Bergshund split the ridge about halfway to the twin rock towers called the Pearly Gates. We took a path to the left to reach a narrow gap in the bergshund. Once across, we continued our climbing to the Gates. Waiting for everyone to arrive, I enjoyed the views of the Kitchen and surrounding pinnacles and ridges. This is an area for rockfall so we left our rope and quickly headed for the summit saddle. About 200′ at an aggressive angle and we were there. Once on top, the winds picked up again. It was about 9:00 AM, and it had taken seven hours to climb the 5400′. We enjoyed the views and took some pictures as well as made a quick climb to the true summit about a hundred feet away and maybe 50′ vertical. On the downclimb, we roped up again until we were at the bottom of the Hogsback. From there it was a simple matter of tracing our steps back to the parking lot. With the steep slopes, we enjoyed some glissading that sped things up quite a bit. It took us about 3 hours to return. Mt. Hood is a little more challenging than advertised, especially if the weather is poor. The route is straightforward as long as you use Crater Rock as your guiding landmark. The crevasses are grouped off the primary route but climbers have been know to “find” them during whiteouts or storms. We thoroughly enjoyed it as a warm-up for Rainier. It was good practice and a summit to boot! It was fun to see Bryan and Ian on their first “alpine” climb using crampons, ice axes, harnesses and traveling roped together. They did great! Ian was far ahead most of the time a testimony to his fitness and Bryan, not far behind Ian, demonstrated his curiosity with his wandering. We had a great time and felt ready for Rainier three days later