Three climbers lost their lives while scaling an 8,000-foot peak in Washington’s Cascade Mountains, as a result of a deadly avalanche. The incident occurred when one member of the six-person climbing group triggered an avalanche around 1 pm on Sunday, while attempting to climb the Northeast Couloir of Colchuck Peak near Leavenworth.
The three climbers who passed away were a 66-year-old man from New Jersey, a 53-year-old man from Connecticut, and a 60-year-old woman from New York. The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office reported that the four climbers were swept down approximately 500 feet and died from trauma sustained in the fall.
Three additional slides buried them within an hour of the initial one. The fourth climber sustained non-life-threatening injuries and hiked back up to the base camp to meet the two others. A seventh member, who had stayed behind, was also at camp. None of the climbers have been publicly named. The surviving members were rescued from their camp roughly 24 hours after the avalanche occurred.
The seventh member of the climbing group, who stayed behind at camp on Sunday, informed the Sheriff’s Office about the group’s experience around 8 am the next morning.
Although twenty-two rescuers responded to the scene, they determined it was too hazardous to continue to the deceased climbers. Experts are now warning climbers to always look at the forecast before going climbing and to carry an avalanche kit, which usually consists of a transceiver, a snow probe, and a shovel.
The Northwest Avalanche Center had issued a heightened avalanche warning on February 19 that lasted until February 20, due to heavy precipitation, strong winds, and warming temperatures, creating very dangerous avalanche conditions.
Rescuers have not been able to retrieve the body as conditions remain dangerous, and officials are hoping to resume the recovery mission on Thursday or Friday.
In light of the incident, officials are warning mountain-goers to look for cracks in the snow as they are red flags, and to avoid any area where avalanches can start, run, or stop. The most deadly avalanche in US history happened in 1910 near Stevens Pass in Washington, where 96 people lost their lives.
»Avalanche kills 3 climbers who were scaling an 8,000-foot peak in Washington’s Cascade Mountains«