Climbers Fall in Cravasse on Mt. Rainier
DEM #97-1344
July 29, 1997
TMR members wait by the rescue truck at the White River
Ranger Station
The Pierce County Department of Emergency Management contacted Gus Bush on Tuesday
the 29th of July. The Park Rangers at Mt. Rainier National Park had requested 12
Mountain Rescue volunteers be placed on standby for a possible rescue of two climbers
on the Emmons Glacier. Gus then contacted the park and talked to Steve Winslow the
chief climbing Ranger. Climbers on the Emmons Glacier had reported that two climbers
had fallen into a crevasse at the 13,500 foot level. They were in the process of
trying to land nine climbing Rangers on the summit of the mountain with an Army
Chinook helicopter. They wanted Mountain Rescue volunteers to be at the White River
ranger station at 7:00 A.M. Wednesday morning. After contacting Tracy Berryman a
callout was made and eight TMRU members responded they were: Ed Hrivnak, Jeff Sharp,
Fran Mcfarland, Tom Miner, Brian Paterik, Dave Wright, John Kirkman and Russ Brinton.
After meeting at the Cache at 4:30 A.M. the team traveled to the White River ranger
station. After arriving at the ranger station they were told to climb up to Camp
Schurmann to assist the Rangers in case a helicopter wasn't available. After the
team arrived at the trail head at White River campground they were called on the
radio to return to the Ranger Station. They were then told to go to the Ranger Creek
helipad to be lifted up by a Chinook helicopter. Unfortunately the helicopter broke
down, and after a long wait the team was released. They returned to the Cache around
4:00 P.M.
Rangers stand by the body of McIntyre after recovering it
from cravasse on right
The climbers Joel Koury, 37, and Don McIntyre had started out on Saturday the 26th
to climb the Liberty Ridge route on the Northwest side of the mountain. Having made
the summit on Tuesday morning they started down the Emmons Glacier around 1:00 P.M.
Descending the mountain in whiteout caused by clouds around the summit they got off
route and entered a crevasse field. To add to their problems the snow that late in
the day had turned to slush, and as they walked the slushy snow built up in their
crampons. Stopping to knock snow out of his crampons Koury lost his balance and
tumbled into McIntyre sending them both over the lip of a crevasse and onto a ledge
30 feet down. The accident was witnessed by other climbers 500 feet above them.
After landing on the summit the nine rangers were able to reach the accident site just
before sunset on Tuesday. They discovered that McIntyre had died in the fall and that
Koury while bumped and bruised was able to walk. After recovering the body and
wrapping it in the victim's tent, and securing it to the slope with a picket they
escorted Koury down to Camp Schurmann. The body of Don McIntyre was not recovered till
a week later on Aug. 4th. Koury was flown off the mountain Wednesday morning by
helicopter.
Editors Note: Murphy's law states that if it can go wrong it will go wrong. Some
people voiced their frustration to me about this mission. Keep in mind that your main
reason for being there is someone's in trouble and needs help. Don't let your anger
at things you cannot control cause you to lose sight of that fact.
