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Climber
Still Missing on Mt. Huntington A climber is missing after an avalanche
on Mt. Huntington in Denali National Park & Preserve. The climber’s
partner reported the incident directly to the Talkeetna Ranger Station
staff via satellite phone at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, February 15.
The missing climber, Johnny Soderstrom, age 26 of Trapper Creek,
was last observed by his partner between 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday morning, as the two-person team approached the West Face
Couloir route on Mt. Huntington, a 12,240-foot peak situated just
south of Mt. McKinley. Soderstrom was skiing up ahead of his partner
Joe Reichert as the two ascended the peak near its 8,800-foot level.
Reichert observed his partner reach a bench, or relatively flat
portion of the route, and then Soderstrom skied out of view. When
Reichert reached the same bench, he was unable to see or hear the
lost climber. Although Reichert did not observe an avalanche occur,
debris covered the area. After probing for over three hours, the
partner descended to the team’s basecamp at 8,000-feet and phoned
for assistance. Poor visibility and weather conditions precluded
a rescue effort Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, Alaska’s
Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) launched a military C-130 aircraft
and a Pavehawk helicopter, both operated by the Air National Guard
210th Pararescue Unit, at approximately 9:30 a.m.out of Kulis Air
Force Base in Anchorage. The Pavehawk helicopter, with three Pararescuemen
on board, flew to the team’s camp and picked up Reichert. After
an initial aerial search of the avalanche area, the Pavehawk returned
to Talkeetna. A smaller, more maneuverable B-3 helicopter piloted
by Alaska State Trooper pilot Mel Nading, flew back to the incident
site with mountaineering ranger Gordy Kito and avalanche expert
Blaine Smith of the Alaska Mountain Safety Center for further aerial
searching and to make an avalanche risk assessment. Based on the
assessment, the search zone was determined to be confined to an
area smaller than the size of a football field. The majority of
debris had collected in a large crevasse at the bottom of the slide
path. Smith and Kito determined that the area probed by Reichert
immediately following the accident was the most likely location
of the missing climber. The avalanche slide path subsequently re-loaded
with new snow that fell throughout the day on Tuesday. Avalanche
concerns and inadequate rotor clearance preclude a helicopter landing
at the immediate site, and approaches from safer landing zones are
also considered to be heavily avalanche prone. The National Park
Service (NPS) is not considering a ground search at this time due
to the extreme danger posed to searchers due to severe avalanche
hazard. The NPS will continue air operations on Thursday to re-assess
avalanche hazard and look for any activity at the site.
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& Disclaimer
Author:Jane
Tranel
Last modified on: April 18, 2003
www.nps.gov/akso
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