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DEM #99-2511 November 7, 1999 |
The Unit was contacted by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management on Sunday the 7th of November at 9:13 P.M.. The Rangers at Mt. Rainier National Park had requested 14 Mountain Rescue volunteers to search for two lost hikers.
Missing were Chris Hartonas of West Seattle and Raymond Vakali of Los
Angeles, both in their 40s. The men had a wilderness camping permit but had not
planned to climb to the summit. The two men and a third hiker, Frank
Vanleynseele of Edmonds, left Paradise Lodge and headed for Camp Muir,
elevation 10,080 feet. After about an hour Vanleynseele decided to turn back to
Paradise. Hartonas and Vakali told Vanleynseele they would cut short their
planned stay at Camp Muir and agreed to meet Saturday night. Saturday's weather
was so good that when they didn't return, Vanleynseele presumed his friends had
just decided to stick to the original plan and descend the mountain Sunday. When
they didn't show up Sunday afternoon, Vanleynseele reported them overdue.
Four members responded to the initial callout: Chris Berryman, Fran McFarland, Mike Mixon and Phil Fortier. When we could not provide the fourteen volunteers needed, the State Department of Emergency Management requested help from other mountain rescue groups including Seattle, Skagit and Olympic Mountain Rescue teams. Our team members meet at the Cache at 5:30 A.M. Monday morning and proceeded to the mountain. After a briefing by the Park Rangers at Longmire at 7:30 A.M. Chris, Fran and Phil were assigned to climb up to Glacier Vista and then down onto the Nisqually moraine, while Mike along with a Park Ranger and a member from the Skagit team attempted to climb up to Camp Muir. The weather was not cooperating and the visibility was probably 500 feet at best. Though the team searching the Nisqually moraine was able to make it up to 7000 feet and found some tracks they turned out to be those of other climbers and not the subjects. The team trying to get to Muir was turned back by high winds on the Muir snow field. Both teams returned late in the day with no success. A callout was done for Tuesday and three members responded: John Miner, Rick Wire and Marcus Donaldson. What follows is a mission report that John submitted to me that covers the next two days of the search.
On Tuesday November 9, 1999 TMR members John Miner, Rick Wire, and Marcus Donaldson arrived at Longmire for a briefing into this search operation on the Muir snowfields.
Two missing climbers, Chris Hartonas and Ra
y Vakili, were last seen at Glacier Vista by
a third team member who decided to turn around, as he was having trouble with his sled.
Chris and Ray were very experienced, Chris having logged over 100 trips to Camp Muir
and thirty in the last year. The intent was to carry and drag sleds to Camp Muir with
technical climbing gear for practice in some crevasses. They had no tent, two sleeping
bags, one stove, and a considerable amount of climbing equipment, though they did not
intend to try for the summit. Their third member brought down all of the snowshoes and
most of the food. They left in weather that was deteriorating, but the summit could be
seen with a cloud cap forming. A major storm hit in mid-afternoon and broke some eight
hours later. There were a number of people on the snowfield both Saturday and Sunday,
but no one ever saw them above Glacier Vista. Maps, descriptions and assignments were
given out and the teams departed for Paradise. Seattle, Everett, Olympic and Skagit
Mountain Rescue Units were present in addition to our team. John was designated team leader with Rick Wire, Marcus
Donaldson and three Park Rangers, Geoff Walker, Dave Turner, and Shaun Spears. Our mission was to search the east-side
of the Muir snowfield as high as we could get. The weather was poor with visibility to the top of Panorama Point at 6800'
and some light rain and snow falling. The team ascended the winter route up "the Pan" into increasing winds and falling
snow. Blowing snow with winds to 40mph and clouds on the snowfield combined to give a low possibility of detection. A
loose grid search was done along the rocks and snowfield up to 7400' where we turned around. Two other teams, one on
the Nisqually moraine and one working up toward the Paradise glacier, had turned around. Another team forced their way
up to Camp Muir. There were no signs of the missing climbers. We returned to Longmire for debriefing and dinner. The
Park put us up in one of their nearby cabins. On Wednesday John, Rick, and
Marcus were again assigned to search the east side of the snowfield to 8,000', if
we could get there. The weather was worse and there was eight inches of new
snow; the lower slopes to the base of the "Pan" having very heavy, wet snow.
The steep slopes along the right side of the "Pan" showed signs of surface
slides. The team moved more directly up, placing more wands along the snow
fingers at the eastern edge of the snowfield. A pair of skiers had passed us near
Glacier
Vista. They chose to go around to the west and up the
Pebble Creek approach to the snowfield. Our team saw them below as we
topped out on Panorama Point and then they disappeared into the clouds above
us as we searched. Near 7400' we saw them skiing toward us out of the storm,
along the edge of the Paradise Glacier! We pointed them toward our line of
wands and let base know we saw them descending. The winds increased and
snow began to fall heavier. Two members of a park team joined up with us on
the snowfield for safety. One of their members had gotten quite cold and returned so they could not efficiently search the
west-side of the snowfield with only two, so we combined resources. We encountered deep drifts of snow, rime ice on the
rocks and at times, wind scoured snow, water ice, and at times zero visibility. The slope below the "Sugarloaf" settled
under one of the rangers and we backtracked to find another way to the top where the other team members waited. We took
a short break in whiteout conditions as the winds continued to increase. We spread out along the narrow ridge and
continued up from 7800'. The winds were steady at 60mph with snow plumes blasting the team. Two team members were
knocked off balance into the rocks, the tell-tale "freight train" sound of extremely high winds deafening at times. Two of us
on the east side of the rocks ran into a seven foot vertical snow drift, which we could not see in the white out conditions. It
was at this point that we turned around and searched what we could back down the route to our wand line on the snowfield.
We made it to Paradise with less than an hour of daylight remaining, and then to Longmire for debriefing. Rick and Marcus
returned to Seattle and I remained to join a Park team on Thursday. However, Thursday morning the weather was terrible
with heavy rain and clouds on the deck at Longmire, so the search was suspended with a possible resumption scheduled for
the weekend, weather permitting.
Respectfully submitted,
John R. Miner
The Park contacted the team to resume the search on Sunday the 14th; they requested six team members; those who responded were Jeff Sharp, Fran McFarland, John Miner, Chris Berryman, Mike Mixon and Ken Capron. They reported to the Park at 7:30 A.M. for a briefing. This was the first day that the weather was clear enough to allow the participation of helicopters in the search
The TMRU members split into two teams. Team one was Jeff, Fran, John; team two was Chris, Mike and Ken. Both teams were lifted from the Kautz Creek helipad by helicopter and dropped off at Anvil Rocks. Team one climbed up to Camp Muir and searched down the Muir Snow field.
Team two climbed up to the saddle above Anvil Rock and then down onto the Cowlitz Glacier. They crossed some avalanche debris and then met up with another search team underneath Anvil Rock. They called search base to request some search dogs to check out the debris.
This is when the search turn into a rescue. Three searchers had climbed a steep, rocky ridge to an elevation of 10,300 feet and were attempting to cross an icy gully. The three, who were roped together, slipped and fell 500 feet down and icy 45º slope to an elevation of between 9,800 and 9,900 feet. Team two was the nearest team to the accident; they were picked up by helicopter and dropped down just above the accident. The injured climbers were a Park Ranger and two guides from Rainier Mountaineering. While Mike and Chris worked to stabilize the worst injured (broken back, broken ribs and a large facial laceration, Editor) Ken went to Camp Muir for litters and a backboard. Other teams contiued to arrive at the accident scene till there were a total of nine rescuers at the scene; they aided the other two climbers whose injuries consisted of a broken ankle and bumps and bruises . An Army CH47 Chinook helicopter that had been participating in the search flew the injured climbers to Madigan Army Hospital. The search was suspended after the accident and was called off the next morning. Below are some more comments by John Miner.
While all of these operations in which the subject(s) are not found leave more questions than answers, this one is somewhat more baffling. Two well equipped and experienced climbers disappeared on a route traveled more times by the leader than most Park Rangers or guides. Indeed, when rangers at a conference in Colorado were called, one suggested calling Chris Hartonas for input. It was then that he was told that it was Chris that we were looking for. A crevasse fall seems the likely possibility, with a large one having formed on the approach to Camp Muir on the snowfield below the hut. After the search on Sunday there is a possibility of them going over the ice cliff between Muir Peak and Anvil rock as we found evidence of a sizeable avalanche there. However, absent any evidence of their presence, this too is conjecture.
We were all disappointed that we did not find these men or any clue as to what may have happened to them. The conditions were such on Tuesday and Wednesday that searching with any level of effectiveness was minimal at best. This was some of the most serious mountain weather that we had encountered and while we all marveled at the ferocity of the storm, it points out the importance of having experienced, fit and well equipped members venturing into this type of environment.
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