News Release

Emmons Glacier Search and Rescue, July 2017

Date: July 17, 2017
Contact: Fawn Bauer, PIO, 360-569-6591

On Sunday July 16th, Mount Rainier National Park search and rescue crews responded to a report that a skier had fallen into a crevasse on the Emmons Glacier near 12,800 feet elevation. Upon descending into the crevasse, rangers located the skier who showed no signs of life.

Officials at Mount Rainier received word of the accident yesterday afternoon via a 911 cell phone call. Earlier that day, a party of three summited Mount Rainier and were descending when one of the member of the group skied into a crevasse. The park's exclusive-use Astar B3 helicopter picked up six climbing rangers and inserted them at the summit due to erratic winds and steep terrain at the accident site. From the summit, rangers climbed down to the location of the incident. Using rope rescue techniques, rangers descended approximately 150 feet into the crevasse where they found the skier with traumatic injuries and was unresponsive.

Six rescuers raised the victim to the surface of the glacier where he was then transported by helicopter from that site and released to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office. Rangers descended with the remaining two members of the group to Camp Schurman, where they spent the night.

Park search and rescue crew, aviation personnel, and Mount Rescue Association volunteers participated in the response.

-NPS-