Copter Plucks 2 Hikers From Mount Rainier
Stranded Climbers Suffer Frostbite, Hypothermia After Freak Blizzard Kills Partner
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Snow and fog create low-visability conditions near the visitor center at Paradise on Mount Rainier, Wash., June 10, 2008. Officials hoped to recover the body Wednesday of a climber who died overnight Monday on the mountain when he and two companions, who suffered frostbite and hypothermia, were caught by a severe blizzard while hiking near Camp Muir higher up the mountain. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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An undated file photo of Mount Rainier, in Washington. (IStockphoto)
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Mount Rainier National Park spokesman Kevin Bacher says they were picked up about 6:15 a.m. PDT Wednesday at Camp Muir for a flight to Madigan Hospital at the Army base near Tacoma for treatment or transport to another hospital.
The man and woman had frostbite and hypothermia from being caught overnight Monday in a blizzard that killed the woman's husband.
The two survivors are expected to recover, reports CBS News affiliate KIRO-TV.
The three had been on a day hike to Camp Muir when they were caught in the storm that dumped 2 feet of snow.
Bacher says the three people in their 30s from Bellevue, east of Seattle, were experienced climbers and two had reached the top of Mount Rainier before.
Bacher and Park Ranger Sandi Kinzer declined to identify the three, saying park officials were having difficulty contacting the dead hiker's family.
The three spent Monday night and early Tuesday trapped on the Muir snowfield before one of the hikers reached Camp Muir, a staging area for climbers high on the volcano's flank. From there he directed rescuers to the other hikers, one of whom died at the camp.
Three doctors, clients of a climbing concessionaire in the park, were at Camp Muir with the two surviving hikers, who were suffering from frostbite and hypothermia but were in stable condition, Bacher said.
The decision was made to wait for improved weather that would allow for a helicopter rescue, rather than risk exposing the two injured hikers to the elements.
"Since they are safe and stable where they are, we'll wait until we get a weather window to get them off the mountain," Kinzer said yesterday.
After a winter of heavy snowfall that forced repeated closure of mountain passes, unseasonably cold conditions have continued long into spring in Washington's Cascade Range. Paradise, the jumping off point for the trail to Camp Muir, received 2 feet of fresh snow overnight, with 5-foot drifts at the camp, Bacher said.
Bacher said rangers received a call at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday that the hikers were trapped in a blizzard.
High winds and low visibility and snow... Definitely not your typical June weather.
Jeff Martin, Rainier Mountaineering Inc.Guides for local climbing companies have been assisting park rangers with the rescue.
International Mountain Guides had eight climbing clients and four guides at Camp Muir, while Rainier Mountaineering Inc. had 15 clients and a handful of guides there Tuesday. Both companies said their employees and clients were doing well, but hunkered down awaiting better weather.
"I do know it was a tough night up there for the weather, just because of what they were forecasting - high winds and low visibility and snow," said Jeff Martin, RMI operations manager. "Definitely not your typical June weather."
The bodies of two other hikers were found in California's Sierra Nevada backcountry last week.
El Dorado County Sheriff's Lt. Les Lovell said an autopsy performed Tuesday revealed that 70-year-old Thomas Hylton died of a heart of attack on June 2, the day he and 78-year-old Jerome Smith set out for a four-day backpacking trip in Desolation Wilderness just west of Lake Tahoe.
Smith left for help after his friend collapsed but fell down a hillside on his way back to the highway. The sheriff's office said he died from his injuries and exposure to the chilly overnight temperature.
The men's families reported them missing Thursday when they failed to return home to Lincoln, a bedroom community north of Sacramento.
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Al Gore''s man-made global warming does not exist in Washington State.
Way to confuse global heating with global warming.
Posted by One-American at 07:53 PM : Jun 10, 2008.....or any other place for that matter. He knows we''re going into a cooling cycle and wants his patented ideas implemented ASAP so as to make it look like he saved us just in time......my hero,....COUGH!
Posted by incog-nito at 09:40 PM : Jun 10, 2008-----Senator McCain''t is a demopublican,.....he''s a fish all right. I''m for RON PAUL.
As for people who go unprepared for winter weather, which can occur any day of the year on Mount Rainier, too bad. They gambled with their lives, and at least one of them lost. They''ll be charged for the rescue, by the way.
Don''t bother explaining it to them. If Limbaugh tells them the sky is yellow, by George its yellow.
Anyone see the irony in that?
As for global warming--it causes erratic weather patterns that trend toward extremes like cold when it should be warm, too hot when it should be temperate, wet when it should be dry--as weather patterns shift and try to adjust to the changes in the different air streams. After a while, the changes such as a lot of rain, causes floods, undermines land and causes sinkholes and could have an effect on the actual earth surface. All these rainy days and floods are the most dangerous due to the fields being flooded. Crops are either lost or stunted--meaning there will be a lot less food this year. that with higher gas prices will make the price soar--So far this year, we have had less than 3 weeks of sunny days in plantable weather. I am in Kansas. I go to Iowa frequently. Many fields are under water or the crops which should already be knee high or just a few inches--and now with this new bout of rain--those are gone too. Global warming does not mean we are headed toward warmer weather--the paradox of that term is that it promotes unpredictable weather patterns and can promote cooling trends.
Posted by gopsoccermom at 11:26 AM : Jun 11, 2008
Christ almighty. I throw up in my mouth every time you post. Your train of logic is constantly stalled at the station. Even if you want to stagger down the bible path on this one, it had nothing to do with prayer but "god''''s will". Much like it was "god''''s will" to let two little girls get shot to death yesterday on an Oklahoma country road. Don''''t let religion keep you from using your brain.
Posted by matvei1107 at 11:37 AM : Jun 11, 2008
You reacted just as gopsoccermom intended. He/she (don''t the mom part fool you) posts these types of statements because it always gets people riled up. Don''t take the bait unless you like playing the part of the fool in his/her production of "Fish On!!"
"High winds and low visibility and snow... Definitely not your typical June weather."
Being on a mountain changes weather patterns and does so quickly - even if they had the weather report it would not have helped them since high winds and snow can come out of no where. This kind of unpredictable weather is not typical in June.
But these are human beings that are being morned by their families -
who the hell made you people judge and jury.
And how is it that Washington is STILL getting snow in June?
.........yeah..........global warming, got it.
And how is it that Washington is STILL getting snow in June?
.........yeah..........global warming, got it.
Posted by perceptions5 at 12:03 PM : Jun 11, 2008
Careful. Telling some people that you are not fully convinced that man is causing global warming is like telling singinrick that God doesn''t exist. You are messing with thier Holy Grail.
GOPSOCCERMOM, STOP GIVING GOD CREDIT FOR STUFF it''s called FAIT, God does not control everything because that is a lot of stuff to control, Thousands and Thousands of Galaxys, Billions and Billions of STARS, Trillions of Planets and Commets and Asteroids.
God has better thinks to do then help some IDIOTS stuck on the Mountain. God sent them up there in the first place because they were stupid and wanted them to all die.
God does not control mother nature. Your an Idiot.
God does not control mother nature. Your an Idiot.
Posted by acolton1 at 12:19 PM : Jun 11, 2008
GOPSOCCERMOM hooks another one!!! Fish On!!
Back under your bridge, TROLL!
it''s FATE, not FAIT.
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Posted by jankebenz at 12:52 PM : Jun 11, 2008
Two feet of snow is tough to prepare for. Not saying they were fully prepared...but that could catch anyone off gaurd. The mountains in the NW are pretty unforgiving...
far to many "experienced" people needing to be rescued.
As someone that knows this hike, I''m telling you people do it as a day hike. Camp Muir (10,000 ft) is a kick off point where most that climb Rainier leave from very early in the AM. Some just go up there to see the facilities.
Right now, we are experiencing very cold weather in Washington State. However, even the most experienced get surprised by this mountain that makes its own weather.
IMPEACH BUSH NOW!!!!!!!!
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by rushlimpdrug
June 11, 2008 10:43 PM EDT
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See all 41 CommentsGod allowed the copter to find the hikers because they were praying. Otherwise all would have been lost.
Posted by gopsoccermom at 11:26 AM
Yeah, but the devil put the mountain there.
So who wins?