When it comes to climate change despair, could joy be the antidote? Four climbers fell an estimated 400 feet into a gully while attempting to summit the Early Winters Spires in the North Cascade mountain range, just over 160 miles northeast of Seattle. The team of climbers, 36, 47, and 63, took on a moderately rated route. They navigated complex transitions between ice, snow, and rock to route a path upward through the mountain.
These climbers met with tragedy on their descent when the anchor holding their ropes supposedly gave way in a steep gully. The climbers had planned to touch the tip of the spire, but footing slipped and tumbling or jumping hundreds of feet into a slumped gulley occurred. They went careening another 200 feet down a jagged rocky slope.
The only member of the group to survive the grisly fall was their guide. He extricated himself from a tangle of ropes, helmets, and equipment after the accident, despite suffering from internal bleeding and head trauma. In an extraordinary display of determination, he trekked in darkness to his car and drove to a payphone to call for help.
Our emergency responders sprang into action pronto when they got the Mayday call. An initial search and rescue team of three reached the location of the fall on Sunday. Once the flooding began, they wasted no time in beginning to evaluate the damage.
Officials are still analyzing the recovered equipment to determine what might have caused the fall. Woodworth, a representative involved in the rescue efforts, noted that “it looked old and weathered, and the rest of their equipment looked newer, so we are making the assumption that it was an old piton.” This surprising finding leads us to ask questions about the safety practices used by these climbers.
Normally, it would be unsafe for climbers to rappel off a single piton, as the potential for disaster is quite high. Mountain conditions in the North Cascades are highly variable and can change quickly. One week’s relatively safe route might not be safe the next week, or even day to day, due to extreme weather variability. These unpredictable elements are some of the factors that can greatly raise the potential hazards public climbers face.
Falls resulting in fatalities to climbers are very much the exception to the rule. This incident serves as a reminder of the unpredictable hazards associated with all forms of mountaineering, including on commonly moderate routes.