Washington, Mt. Rainier. At about 8:00 a.m. on 31 May Mr. Sundquist and his daughter, and Mr. James M. Reddick (51), with his son David (12) and daughter Sharon (11) left Paradise for Camp Muir. The party planned to spend the night in the public shelter at Muir and return to Paradise the following day. The weather was clear at that hour with a temperature of 38° at Paradise.

A five man summit party was checked out at Paradise at 9:00 a.m. As this party left Paradise for Camp Muir at 9:30 a.m. a thin cloud cap had formed on the mountain. This cap was pointed out to the party and they were told that a cap often means bad weather. A commercial radio had also predicted stormy weather through the following several days.

The summit party caught up to the Reddick party above McClure Rock a little after noon. By this time the weather had deteriorated badly. The summit party suggested to the Reddick party that they should turn back as they were not equipped to travel through high winds, blowing rain and snow. The summit party went on and the Reddick party followed.

At 2:30 p.m. Mr. Sundquist and his daughter decided not to continue and turned back to Paradise. At about 3:15 p.m. a Mr. Laurel Thompson and a companion had turned back below Anvil Rock. The storm had gotten bad and there was a white-out condition. Mr. Thompson tried to talk Mr. Reddick into returning to Paradise. Mr. Reddick would not turn back.

At about 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 1, Mrs. Reddick asked at Paradise Visitor Center if anyone had seen her husband who was due to return from Camp Muir. At 12:15 p.m. the rangers at Camp Muir checked in by radio and were asked if they had seen the Reddick party. They reported that the party had never made it to Muir. The weather at Muir was 18°F., 45 mph wind, snowing with no visibility. They could not conduct a search in those conditions.

Extreme weather continued throughout the night as 4.38 inches of rain fell at Paradise. Plans were made for the next day and operations secured for the night. Extensive search operations were instituted.

At 1:45 p.m., Sunday, June 2, Valder found the Reddick party dug into a snow trench in the Muir snowfield about 500 feet below Anvil Rock. The two children had survived in reasonably good condition while Mr. Reddick had succumbed, probably late the night of the 31st.

Source: Paul Haertel, Mt. Rainier National Park.

Analysis: This would appear to be another case of pulmonary edema. Probably brought on by the extra exertion of digging the snow trench.