Ranger Dies on Mt. Ranier

“http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/us/washington-mount-ranier-death/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Died while helping some climbers in distress...”

“A real bummer.

Doug”

“forgive my overall mountaineering ignorance, but what is it about Mt. Ranier that makes it so dangerous? It seems like not a year passes without someone (or multiple people) being killed or seriously injured on it...”

“Steep ice and long slopes:



This is my rope team on the Emmons Glacier. When this picture was taken it was late morning coming down from the summit. The ice was getting slushy and self-arrest was easy.

The late ranger was in a storm at 5 p.m. and apparently the ice was pretty hard & slick. If you slip and don't arrest immediately, you'll pick up speed and won't stop until you crash into something. Usually people fall in a crevasse, which could be 200' deep.”

“Can't even see my own picture. Here:

”

“It's nothing but red x's on this computer. Here's the link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/16XL8UZ_HMTLZQxadT9DB9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

I'll be spending the second week of July on Rainier - really looking forward to it.

More people get hurt on Mt. Hood because it's a smaller, easier mountain and people get in over their heads.

http://www.kgw.com/news/Climber-injured-in-fall-on-Mt-Hood-159892705.html”

“yikes... yeah, I can see how that'd get a bit hairy. I've never done very much of anything like that, but I did find myself casually crossing a steep snowfield up in the Sierra last year when I suddenly realized "holy crap, I'm actually in a pretty dangerous situation"... kinda scary how easily I wandered into it without realizing the risk.”

“Wow! Thanks for sharing. Im planning on doing just a little lower level hiking around mt. Hood tomorrow. Much different conditions out here now than when i summited it a few years ago. And it was scary then even with proper gear.”

“How many of those mountain disasters involve Texans? When I was on Rainier in 2010 we heard helicopters and a guide said, "That's never a good sign." Some Texans went sliding down the ice and into a crevasse on the other side of the mountain. They survived but their experienced friend from Washington was killed.

I was a Texan when I started climbing in the Cascades. Now I'm more like the 52-yr old guy from Michigan, except I carry an ice axe.”

“"plea' don' say slide!"”

“I believe the ranger said, "Don't glissade upstairs."”