Here is what the NPS stated this morning. Emphasis added in bold face by me.

Today's Report | Recent Editions
Wednesday, June 15, 2011


INCIDENTS

Mount Rainier National Park (WA)
Climber Perishes During Liberty Ridge Ascent

A party of three climbers departed White River on June 10th for a summit attempt via the challenging Liberty Ridge route. During the climb, one member of the party, Rob Planker, 50, of Olympia, Washington, became severely hypothermic and possibly frostbitten. On June 13th, his partners were unable to get him walking from their camp at 13,600 feet, so left him to seek assistance. They contacted a ranger on Emmons Glacier at 5 p.m. that evening. Two teams of climbing rangers headed to his location, one team from Camp Schurman and the other from Camp Muir. One of the teams had to turn back at 12,100 feet due to winds blowing at 55 mph. Members of the second team spent the night in a snow cave and resumed their efforts to reach Planker at 5 a.m. the next morning. They found some of his gear at the point where his partners left him, but were unable to find Planker. Air searchers found a 2,000-foot-long slide track leading down a 50 degree ice- and snow-covered slope over some of the steepest and most inhospitable terrain on the mountain. The track indicated intermittent airborne periods and ended at an icefall below Liberty Wall. No signs of Planker were found during a thorough visual search of the slide area. A Chinook helicopter from Joint Base Lewis-McChord and an MD 530 from Northwest Helicopters assisted in the search, which was called off at 4 p.m. due to high winds. Limited visual searching from the ground will continue. The operation is now considered a body recovery, as the risk-to-benefit ratio is not conducive to extensive searching. Liberty Ridge is one of the most technical climbs on Mount Rainier. Members of the climbing party are experienced climbers and were well equipped for the climb. IC on this incident was Brian Hasebe. [Submitted by Patti Wold, Park Information Officer]

I can't find the article that said that. I thought it was The Olympian, but...

The articles say he had a bivy bag. Not a sleeping bag and a bivy bag, just a bivy bag. Let me guess: he was wearing the clothes he sweated up the mountain in, then climbed into the bivy and ...

That's at 13,600 feet, temp. of ~5ºF in a 50 mph wind, on snow. Translation: 24º below zero!

He had gotten away with it before, and assumed he would get away with it again is probably closer to the truth.

I live between these two d**ned mountains, Rainier and Hood. If it isn't some dorks climbing in winter with minimal gear, it's others climbing on a 'nice June day'.

"Experienced and well-equipped" -- yeah, aren't they all?

Sue

Susan:

As usual, the news stories do not offer complete details and often conflict each other. One of the news articles I read summed it up the best: Many details of the incident remain unclear. Truth be told, we will probably never know the complete story...and that is fine with me.

From what I read, and I carefully heed my own words above. By the time Rob Plankers was assisted into the bivy bag, he was non-ambulatory (unable to walk unassisted) and hypothermia had set in. Unforgivably at 13,000 feet there is not a lot of options left and Planker's climbing partners had to make a very tough choice. Rest assured, every climber I have ever talked to on this subject will categorically tell you that this is the one decision they hope to never have to make.

As for "He had gotten away with it before"...well we all have in one pursuit or another in life. Climbing at high altitude such as 13,000 feet or more is always a big risk. I have done it a lot more then once and if I ever have the chance again, I would do it in a heartbeat.

A difficult route ... incoming bad weather ... only limited time to make the ascent and get clear of the summit. That's a bad combination.

Very sad outcome. My prayers for the family and loved ones of this man. Sounds like he was a really good guy.

Pete #2

I think you're veering into speculation here. Note that the "experienced and well-equipped" evaluation was made by the extremely competent and experienced park service guys, not the victim party. The park service sees all kinds of assclown on the mountain so they are in an excellent position to make the judgement.

Your tone is pretty heavy too. What is your mountaineering experience?

The earlier posters with experience in that realm are correct: being skilled and going light will, in the long run, be safer in the mountains than going heavier and slower. When I say "being skilled" I mean exercising good judgment based on experience, not just being able to physically do the work.

Widget,

It is very common for persons with hypothermia to have trouble walking. In the early stages (after shivering stops) for the brain to become confused and lead to stumbling, etc. On very rough terrain like this is described (I have never been on Ranier) this can be very dangerous and may have led his companions to say he could not walk. In later stages there is not enough warmth to keep the muscles working and they stiffen to the point that walking is essentially impossible.




Nothing here should be construed to refer to the loss on Ranier, we don't know enough to discuss that yet imho.

Going fast and light is not necessarily "safer" than going heavier and slower, it just has different risks. Both of them have significant dangers. I know that many if not most climbers prefer the risks of light and fast, but not all will agree they are correct. I also know many who take the "light" part to extremes. I do not think anyone should go so light that they do not have the equipment and food to stay overnight, although I have seen many who claimed it was "safer". I also know many who go as light as they can while being able to spend the night. I also know a few who do not fall in the fast and light group. I have been on rescue missions for all three groups -- just different risks.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Those who adhere to expedition style climbing would not think that a "well-equipped" alpine style climber is in fact "well-equipped". That's simply a difference of opinion.

I have friends who don't feel safe in anything smaller than a full size SUV. Does that make a mid-size sedan unsafe? Does "safe" mean it performs better in a accident or it has emergency handling capabilities that let it avoid (or lessen) the accident?

Opinions vary as do acceptable levels of risk.

Jerry,

I have never experienced a level of hypothermia where I felt incapacitated. I also have never laid on a mountain and let myself get colder and colder. I can imagine circumstances where that can happen, I can't understand how that happened to one person and the other 2 were seemingly fully functional. They were exposed to the same conditions at the same time. So, that is hard to believe this climber would be that far gone without someone intervening. That is part of being a climbing team, look after each other. Was there a condition that was different for him compared to his friends, a contributing factor such as mountain sickness from altitiude, or...?

The other 2 climbers would have had to continue up to reach someone on the Emmons Glacier since it is a considerable distance from Liberty Ridge. That meant that it took them a long time to get to the top of the ridge, traverse to the Emmons and descend to where they notified park personnel. Afternoon was mentioned, so the injured climber was left for a considerable period of time before anyone was even starting to attempt to reach him.

All together a sad scenario. A typical climb of Liberty Ridge involves one night on the ridge but probably not as high as 13,000 ft. Was this perhaps an additional, totally unplanned night out? That could certainly be a contributing factor to this accident.

As for the term light and fast, it is not the same in mountaineering as it is in fast paced trail hiking. A good climber has to decide what gear is essential and what is unnecessary and pack accordingly. The obvious hazard on this climb is the steep terrain and potential of falling rock and ice. They surely had ropes and protective anchors and ice tools to accomplish the climb. There is also a risk of weather to include cold and there is always a compromise somewhere in how you pack for that unforseen weather. You plan on what you think you need but also can error by taking too much or too little. Add to this the effects of altitude and fatigue from strenuous activities. You cannot plan when you have a bad reaction to high altitude. I have been fine at 14,000 and a week later been sick at 11,000, it just hits and the effects can stop you in your tracks. That would be very harsh on a climb that is harder to climb down than up, meaning you can't retreat you can only suffer and perhaps die without intervention or rescue. A cell phone would have likely worked from the ridge, if one was carried.

You bring up a lot of factors in this incident that require some explanation. It does indeed seem unusual that one member of a party could get in such bad shape while the other two were relatively unimpaired.

The search effort has basically ended - bad news.

That's the part of the story that I'm hung up on. I've never climbed outdoors but hyporthermia is serious business for any outdoor enthusiast. I would think that anybody considering climbing a mountain, especially experienced climbers, would be on heightened alert for it and trained to know what to do. As part of a team, shouldn't there be a commitment to each other to take care of each other and do something when things start going south? We don't have enough details, I know, but I wonder how it got that far?