Rescue effort under way on Mount Rainier

[CaddyDaddy77]

Anybody got any thing on this?

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Washington (AP) -- A helicopter from the Oregon National Guard headed toward Mount Rainier on Thursday to try to rescue two climbers stranded by injuries at 11,300 feet.

Both are firefighters and trained as emergency medical technicians, said Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold. At least one of the men was injured, she said, but rangers did not know the nature of his injuries or the status of the other.

She declined to say what fire department they worked in or release their identities, pending notification of their families.

They were stranded on Liberty Ridge, one of the most difficult routes to the 14,410-foot summit, about 1,000 feet below where a climber was fatally injured in a fall last month.

Remainder of article

[Buster Highmen]

Second time within 3 weeks. I hope this one has better outcome. Climbers need a "carte roche" or something here in the U.S. Skiers need a Carte Neige ici aussi.

[summit]

Yea. May the fare much better than the last guy who died in the helo.

[char]

Weather is excellent today (75 and clear, not sure about the wind up there.).

Seems like optimal conditions for a rescue.

[char]

Hearing reports that one climber died. RIP.

[optics]

http://www.komotv.com/stories/31554.htm

[Stikki]

http://www.kirotv.com/news/3377798/detail.html

Not a good start to the climbing season so far. Be safe out there. Remember, the summit is only halfway.

[Superstar Punani]

rip.

They tried and they failed. The lesson is never try. [/homer]

[Oopsie Daisy]

Like the last casualty up there, this guy left behind a wife and kids.

Question for the group: At what point do longterm parental responsibilities to provide a safe, stable environment for the family override one-off desires to take risks?

My opinion: once you have kids, you back waaaay off on the unnecessary risks.

Dissenting opinions welcomed.

[Trackhead]

Liberty Ridge is a beautiful line on Rainier. 6k of 45-50 degree ridge-snow-ice. I climbed it in May in 1992, was in great condition to ski then. Perfect neve for 6k vert. Couple of hairy sections for the ski descent, but mostly 45-50 degrees.

Those guys sound like they are just above Thumb Rock (midway up the route). Pretty easy ground below them to the Carbon Glacier.

Wish them the best.

[joshbu]

Originally posted by Trackhead
Liberty Ridge is a beautiful line on Rainier. 6k of 45-50 degree ridge-snow-ice. I climbed it in May in 1992, was in great condition to ski then. Perfect neve for 6k vert. Couple of hairy sections for the ski descent, but mostly 45-50 degrees.

Those guys sound like they are just above Thumb Rock (midway up the route). Pretty easy ground below them to the Carbon Glacier.

Wish them the best.

Oddly enough, Liberty Ridge has only been skiied once to my knowledge. Chris Landry (sp?) did it a while back. At least one person has died trying.

It does have a few unappealing aspects from the ski descent point of view: 1. perfect snow is very, very, very rare up there. The usual order of the day is ice. 2. The weather moves in at warp 9. 3. Landry's famous "you fall.. you die" quote applies. Even your whippet probably isn't going to save you.

btw. I would tend to define 50 degrees as hairy from a skiing point of view... espically 6 grand of it. What do you define as hairy?

Anyways, here's to another brother: may he find all of the summits he ever dreamed of in the next life.

[The AD]

Originally posted by joshbu
btw. I would tend to define 50 degrees as hairy from a skiing point of view... espically 6 grand of it. What do you define as hairy?

Straightlining the Willis Wall.

[char]

Originally posted by joshbu

btw. I would tend to define 50 degrees as hairy from a skiing point of view... espically 6 grand of it. What do you define as hairy?

Trackhead is a fucking nut.

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...ight=trackhead

[Trackhead]

History on Rainier of ski descents, etc. History on Rainier here.

I'm not sure how many times it has been skied since. But it is appealing in so many ways. Maybe I was lucking with conditions when we were there. Evidently so.

Either way, sucks to hear about peers dying in the mountains.

[Ireallyliketoski2]

Originally posted by Oopsie Daisy
Like the last casualty up there, this guy left behind a wife and kids.

Question for the group: At what point do longterm parental responsibilities to provide a safe, stable environment for the family override one-off desires to take risks?

My opinion: once you have kids, you back waaaay off on the unnecessary risks.

Dissenting opinions welcomed.

I agree with the unneccesary risks part, but to think that someone will change their way of life is unrealistic. The thing that pisses me off is when someone with family and kids dies in the mountains and someone else says "Well, he died doing what he loved most" That must make the kids feel great, gee my Dad loved me but not as much as this mountain. You should be willing to die for your family, not for a new route on your climbing resume.

[Stikki]

Further stories say he left behind 4 kids. It also said he'd been up Rainier 25 times.

His partner was up there with a 3-month old at home. Not sure if I'd be doing something that risky with a newborn in my life.

[Hicks]

Originally posted by Ireallyliketoski
I agree with the unneccesary risks part, but to think that someone will change their way of life is unrealistic. The thing that pisses me off is when someone with family and kids dies in the mountains and someone else says "Well, he died doing what he loved most" That must make the kids feel great, gee my Dad loved me but not as much as this mountain. You should be willing to die for your family, not for a new route on your climbing resume.

Well, I am in the fortunate situation of having a family and, however without their consent, skiing occasionally more exposed lines. What I am definitely doing significantly more compared to the times before is evaluating the risks I am running. This means I would retreat from a plan sooner on figuring out that conditions are questionable, no matter how much efford I had to invest up front to get to the point when such a decision has to be made or whether others still decide to go for it.
Despite that I nonetheless ran into two situations in which only my buddies help prevented me from skiing in another place than this planet. Would I completely refrain from skiing exposed lines? No - but I take a closer look at the route I ski, conditions, chances to get away in case I crash, strictly refrain from hero skiing and hike/climb up the same route.

[Ireallyliketoski2]

Originally posted by Hicks
Well, I am in the fortunate situation of having a family and, however without their consent, skiing occasionally more exposed lines. What I am definitely doing significantly more compared to the times before is evaluating the risks I am running. This means I would retreat from a plan sooner on figuring out that conditions are questionable, no matter how much efford I had to invest up front to get to the point when such a decision has to be made or whether others still decide to go for it.
Despite that I nonetheless ran into two situations in which only my buddies help prevented me from skiing in another place than this planet. Would I completely refrain from skiing exposed lines? No - but I take a closer look at the route I ski, conditions, chances to get away in case I crash, strictly refrain from hero skiing and hike/climb up the same route.

Great point of view, I believe that the key phrase here is unneccessary risks. I will continue to go into the mountains till the day I die, but since being married and now learning that I will soon be a Dad, I find myself digging twice as many pits and turning back more often. The big thing for me is that I want to be able to experience the mountains and skiing for a long time, I want to ski with my Grandkids, and there isn't a single rush that's worth risking it all. However, some acceptance of risk is necessary for the pursuit of anything in the mountains, but I feel that we accept the same risks in our day to day lives. Heck riding my bike to work exposes me to more risk than an average day skiing, the drive to the mountains from Denver is definitely the most dangerous part of any day.

[JStew]

Heck riding my bike to work exposes me to more risk than an average day skiing,

Roger that. One of my girls can't stand it when I ride to work (like today). But the only thing she says when I tell her I'm going BC skiing is, "Can I go?"

They're definitely on my mind when I peer into 3rd Pillar or the such. No hard and fast rules here, each of us is an individual, and we all have our own comfort levels and risk levels.

It is too sad that two Dads have died on Ranier in the last 3 weeks.