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Four lost in forecast storm on Mt. Rainier

Search Continues For Mount Rainier Hikers
January 22, 2012
FOX News

Rescuers resumed Sunday a search for four missing hikers on Washington's Mount Rainier, but a park official said there has been "no sign of the overdue parties."

Crews Sunday would try "a possible air search and ground search," if weather permits, Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold said in a statement.

Rescue efforts were suspended Friday as a snowstorm and 40 mph (65kph) winds moved in.

Two campers -- Mark Vucich, 37, of San Diego, Calif., and Michelle Trojanowski, 30, of Atlanta -- were due off the mountain last Sunday, while two unnamed climbers from Springfield, Ore., had been due to return Monday.

Wold said that 26 rescuers tried again Saturday to look for the missing parties, but strong winds and ice prevented access to higher elevations.

The park has a helicopter on standby from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, but so far conditions have not been good enough for flying.

Although both sets of missing hikers were said to be well-prepared and likely to have built shelter amid the vicious conditions, concerns were growing that their supplies were running low. Both parties ascended the mountain as a strong snow and ice storm pummeled northwestern Washington.

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpps/news/search-continues-for-mount-rainier-hikers-dpgonc-km-20120122_17288051

NEWS RELEASES
Mt. Rainier National Park

January 17, 2012
Overdue Parties Prepared for Winter Conditions
Two parties expected off the mountain over the last two days are overdue according to their original plans.

January 18, 2012
Mount Rainier Poised to Begin Search for Two Overdue Parties
The incident command team, lead by Park Ranger Kelly Bush, is planning to send field teams out once conditions become favorable. Efforts are currently focused on organizing a team of skilled skiers and climbers who have experience in negotiating the terrain to Camp Muir in difficult travel conditions.

January 19, 2012
Team of Elite Mountaineers Search for Overdue Parties on Mount Rainier
This morning, January 19, a team of ten is searching a portion of the intended route of the two overdue parties from Paradise up the Muir Snowfield to Camp Muir, where they will overnight.

January 19, 2012
Update on Search Efforts
Today a team of ten searched from Paradise up the Muir Snowfield to Camp Muir without locating either of the parties.

January 20, 2012
Poor Weather Hinders Search for Overdue Parties
Searchers remain on standby to return to the search upon first signs of improved weather.

January 21, 2012
Search Continues for Overdue Parties on Mount Rainier
This morning teams searched areas of the Paradise Glacier, Alta Vista, Upper Stevens Canyon and Muir Snowfield and detected no sign of the overdue parties. Extreme weather continues to limit search operations.

January 22, 2012
Search Efforts Continue for Overdue Parties on Mount Rainier
The search for two overdue parties continues on Mount Rainier on Sunday, January 22. No sign of the missing parties has been detected to date.

January 23, 2012
Major Search Efforts Aided by Good Weather
A break between storms provided a weather window for significant ground and air operations in the search for two missing parties on Mount Rainier.

http://www.nps.gov/mora/parknews/newsreleases.htm

February 2, 2012
By Robert Speik
The Mt. Rainier searches have been suspended at this time, according to Park Service spokesman Kevin Bacher, with whom we talked on the telephone today, February 2, 2012.

The two climbers had registered and filled out a standard climbers' questionnaire. They were planning a "winter ascent" and were prepared to bivy. It is possible that they fell and were lost as the forecast storm developed.

The two campers were not required to fill out a gear list with their "overnight backcountry permit" but they signed in and were assumed to have been prepared for a single winter night out. It is possible that their camp was simply overwhelmed by heavy snow in the forecast storm and they may have been unable to make their way to safety. Read more .

Their cars were located at the trail head; their family members assisted the Search and Rescue briefings. Details of their Preparedness are not available at this time.

"Anatomy of the search for the four overdue hikers at Mount Rainier"

"Anatomy of the search for the four overdue hikers at Mount Rainier"
The Mountain News - WA
By Bruce A. Smith
As the search for four overdue hikers at Mount Rainier winds down after nearly two weeks of combing the slopes above Paradise, park spokesperson Kevin Bacher gave the Mountain News a comprehensive analysis of the rescue operations.

Please click our link to the blog The Mountain News - WA  "Serving those who live close to Mount Rainier in body or spirit", for a detailed description and lay analysis of the events leading up to the loss of four climbers and campers in the forecast winter storm that overtook many on a fateful mid-winter weekend in January 2012.

We shall continue to follow this tragedy. --Robert Speik

A suggested minimum standard news advisory for all backcountry travelers

"We would like to take this opportunity to ask our visitors to the backcountry of Oregon to plan for the unexpected.  Each person should dress for the forecast weather and take minimum extra clothing protection from a drop in temperature and possible rain or snow storm or an unexpected cold wet night out, insulation from the wet ground or snow, high carbohydrate snacks, two quarts of water or Gatorade, a map and compass and optional inexpensive GPS and the skills to use them, and a charged ordinary cell phone and/or a $140.00 SPOT-2 GPS satellite communicator. Carry the traditional personal "Ten Essentials Systems" in a day pack sized for the season and the forecast weather.

Visitors are reminded to tell a Responsible Person where they are going, where they plan to park, when they will be back and to make sure that person understands that they are relied upon to call 911 at a certain time if the backcountry traveler has not returned. If you become lost or stranded, mark your location and stay still or move around your marked location to stay warm. Do not try to find your way until you are exhausted, or worse yet - wet. Wait for rescuers.

THE MISSION of TraditionalMountaineering.org

"To provide information and instruction about world-wide basic to advanced alpine mountain climbing safety skills and gear, on and off trail hiking, scrambling and light and fast Leave No Trace backpacking techniques based on the foundation of an appreciation for the Stewardship of the Land, all illustrated through photographs and accounts of actual shared mountaineering adventures."

TraditionalMountaineering is founded on the premise that "He who knows naught, knows not that he knows naught", that exploring the hills and summitting peaks have dangers that are hidden to the un-informed and that these inherent risks can be in part, identified and mitigated by mentoring: information, training, wonderful gear, and knowledge gained through the experiences of others.

The value of TraditionalMountaineering to our Friends and Subscribers is the selectivity of the information we provide, and its relevance to introducing folks to informed hiking on the trail, exploring off the trail, mountain travel and Leave-no-Trace light-weight bivy and backpacking, technical travel over steep snow, rock and ice, technical glacier travel and a little technical rock climbing on the way to the summit. Whatever your capabilities and interests, there is a place for everyone in traditional alpine mountaineering.

A QUOTE FROM EDWARD WYMPER 1871

See yonder height! 'Tis far away -- unbidden comes the word "Impossible!"

"Not so," says the mountaineer.  "The way is long, I know; its difficult -- it may be dangerous."

"It's possible, I'm sure; I'll seek the way, take counsel of my brother mountaineers,
and find out how they have reached similar heights and learned to avoid the dangers."

He starts (all slumbering down below); the path is slippery - and may be dangerous too. 
Caution and perseverance gain the day
-- the height is reached! and those beneath cry, "Incredible! 'Tis superhuman!"

This is a passage we found on page 161 of "Scrambles Amongst the Alps" by Edward Wymper,
first published in 1871 and reprinted 1981 by Ten Speed Press, Berkley, CA.

    WARNING - *DISCLAIMER!*
Mountain climbing has inherent dangers that can, only in part, be mitigated

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