4 injured climbers rescued from N. Cascades National Park
NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK, Wash. - Four injured climbers were rescued from remote mountain peaks in the North Cascades in two separate incidents over the past few days, officials said Sunday.
In the first incident, on Friday, falling slabs of snow fell from a steep wall onto a campsite set up by three climbers in a basin below Luna Peak. The falling snow injured two of the climbers - a 29-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman.
The third climber was able to hike out and report that his partners had been hurt. Rangers then flew in via helicopter and rescued the injured climbers.
The two were flown to Marblemount and evaluated. The injured man was taken to a local hospital and the woman was treated and released, said North Cascades National Park spokesman Charles Beall.
In the second incident, on Saturday, a party of seven was climbing the south side route of Sahale Peak when one of them inadvertently pulled loose a large boulder, which struck him and then slammed into a 24-year-old woman who was climbing below him.
One of the other climbers then hiked out to Cascade Pass and reported the injuries. Climbing rangers immediately responded, reaching the two injured climbers by helicopter and by foot.
Arriving at the scene, rangers found the 24-year-old woman had sustained critical injuries. She was moved from the glacier by a National Park Service-contracted helicopter, and then transferred to a medical airlift helicopter at a road site, Beall said.
She was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was reported to have multiple fractures, but is in stable condition and expected to survive. The other injured climber, a 25-year-old man, was flown out of the back country and treated for minor injuries.
In the first incident, on Friday, falling slabs of snow fell from a steep wall onto a campsite set up by three climbers in a basin below Luna Peak. The falling snow injured two of the climbers - a 29-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman.
The third climber was able to hike out and report that his partners had been hurt. Rangers then flew in via helicopter and rescued the injured climbers.
The two were flown to Marblemount and evaluated. The injured man was taken to a local hospital and the woman was treated and released, said North Cascades National Park spokesman Charles Beall.
In the second incident, on Saturday, a party of seven was climbing the south side route of Sahale Peak when one of them inadvertently pulled loose a large boulder, which struck him and then slammed into a 24-year-old woman who was climbing below him.
One of the other climbers then hiked out to Cascade Pass and reported the injuries. Climbing rangers immediately responded, reaching the two injured climbers by helicopter and by foot.
Arriving at the scene, rangers found the 24-year-old woman had sustained critical injuries. She was moved from the glacier by a National Park Service-contracted helicopter, and then transferred to a medical airlift helicopter at a road site, Beall said.
She was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was reported to have multiple fractures, but is in stable condition and expected to survive. The other injured climber, a 25-year-old man, was flown out of the back country and treated for minor injuries.
