Forum Index > Trail Talk > Avalanche Accident Colchuck Peak 2/19, 3 reported killed
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Malachai Constant
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Malachai Constant
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PostFri Mar 24, 2023 6:30 pm 
Bottom line that route is unacceptably dangerous this time of year regardless of equipment and preparation, so it goes.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn

Gil
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gb
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gb
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PostSat Mar 25, 2023 8:32 am 
Malachai Constant wrote:
Bottom line that route is unacceptably dangerous this time of year regardless of equipment and preparation, so it goes.
Even moreso in climbing. The angle of the terrain not only makes avalanches possible, but high slope angles guarantee any avalanche will run real fast. NWAC points that out; all were victims of trauma. It does not take a very large slide, probably any at all, to knock you off your feet in steep terrain.

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Kim Brown
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PostSat Mar 25, 2023 11:06 am 
another poster, doesn't matter, my response is general wrote:
Not being there in those conditions; finding an alternate climb
In the Seattle Times article Randito posted, they intended something at MRNP but - the road closure forced them to choose another location. Maybe a hurried choice? I don't know. I'm not saying the alternate trip they chose was a good choice <----I hope this is clear - but they were from out of town and excited to come to another part of the country to climb, so the excitement, timing, and desire to pack a trip into that one timeframe, while all factors of the mistake - it may have tipped against them when they had to find an alternate upon learning the road to their first choice was closed. I'm not saying they wouldn't have experienced an avalanche at MRNP; <--- I hope this is clear - no one knows. But it's just another bullet point in the list of What Went Wrong, and adds another bullet point in the list of frustration experienced when roads that are typically open, close. Yeah, yeah....so choose a safe alternative instead. But I wasn't in on the planning, so I can't say what they were thinking.

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert

Eric Hansen, gb, vogtski, RumiDude
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Eric Hansen
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Eric Hansen
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PostSat Mar 25, 2023 1:10 pm 
Compassion is a good thing. There does seem to be a common thread in the Colchuck fatal incident that is also present in the recent Buckskin Gulch (Utah slot canyon) fatal incident. Folks flying in from elsewhere, not checking in with locals on current conditions and/or not respecting the severe implications of those conditions. Memory has a Mt. Hood epic several years ago with a similar narrative. One of my favorite questions in similar circumstances is "What do you know that I need to know?" FWIW, I'm Wisconsin based and we see similar incidents here with people not verifying ice conditions on our lakes before ice fishing or driving onto the ice. Locals know where the weak spots are in the lake ice, or whether the whole ice sheet is suspect.

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Cyclopath, gb, silence, grannyhiker, Kim Brown, Chief Joseph
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Bruce Albert
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PostSat Mar 25, 2023 9:38 pm 
Permit me to respectfully add party size to the list. Six IMO is about four too many for a route like that, summer or winter.

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idoru
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idoru
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PostSat Mar 25, 2023 10:50 pm 
Eric Hansen wrote:
There does seem to be a common thread in the Colchuck fatal incident that is also present in the recent Buckskin Gulch (Utah slot canyon) fatal incident. Folks flying in from elsewhere, not checking in with locals on current conditions and/or not respecting the severe implications of those conditions.
This brings to mind the Hidden Lake Lookout thread.

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gb
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gb
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PostSun Mar 26, 2023 6:34 am 
Eric Hansen wrote:
Compassion is a good thing. There does seem to be a common thread in the Colchuck fatal incident that is also present in the recent Buckskin Gulch (Utah slot canyon) fatal incident. Folks flying in from elsewhere, not checking in with locals on current conditions and/or not respecting the severe implications of those conditions. Memory has a Mt. Hood epic several years ago with a similar narrative. One of my favorite questions in similar circumstances is "What do you know that I need to know?" FWIW, I'm Wisconsin based and we see similar incidents here with people not verifying ice conditions on our lakes before ice fishing or driving onto the ice. Locals know where the weak spots are in the lake ice, or whether the whole ice sheet is suspect.
Both what you and Kim just said is bang-on. If one is coming on a scheduled trip from far away, it is extremely unlikely you would have the local knowledge of conditions and of planning resources that a local would have.

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forest gnome
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PostSun Mar 26, 2023 8:38 am 
Switching the trip at the last moment ...didn't they find Info on cascade climbers or research the history of how bad that area is ...I'm just saying with the intraweb there is quite a bit of info for winter conditions..as well as the weather loading snow from recent storms...dam simple mistakes add up fast... As far as the hidden lake story I asked at 1 point if she was at all familiar with the area...there was some good info on that thread also Although her exact equipment wasn't mentioned perhaps it is in a report somewhere..she had a sleeping bag..but no shelter, tarp ...extra clothes or stove?? Can anyone comment on that thanx ..and it's a tragedy the people who seen her last didn't have a talk about conditions...it sounded like she was about 45? Minutes from the lookout . Sorry thread drift....but people here are correctly and respectfully bringing up exactly why the climbers mucked up... I had no idea the changed plans last minute. .

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Schroder
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PostWed May 31, 2023 8:46 am 
Body of avalanche victim in Washington state recovered after being spotted by volunteer
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LEAVENWORTH, Wash. (AP) — Search crews have recovered the body of a climber who was one of three killed in an avalanche on Washington’s Colchuck Peak in February. A search-and-rescue volunteer was on a personal trip to the mountain Monday when he saw the remains of 60-year-old Jeannie Lee, of Bayside, New York, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said. The volunteer climbed to the top of Colchuck Glacier and called dispatchers, who sent a helicopter and two other volunteers to assist in the recovery. Lee and two other climbers were killed Feb. 19 as they ascended a steep, snow-packed gulley on the 8,705-foot (2,653-meter) Colchuck Peak, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) east of Seattle, amid risky avalanche conditions. Another member of their party was caught up in the slide, but had minor injuries and was able to hike back down. One of the victims, Seong Cho, 54, a Korean citizen residing in West Hartford, Connecticut, was located days later. But heavy snowfall helped prevent search teams from finding Lee or Yun Park, a 66-year-old man from Palisades Park, New Jersey. Warm weather has melted much of the snow in the area recently, but there was still no sign of Park on Monday, the sheriff’s office said.

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