Washington, Mt. Rainier. On 13 July Chris Marshall (16), David Stevens (28), and Mark Kupperberg (25), were descending Winthrop Glacier after a successful ascent. They were part of a party of fifteen on a climb sponsored by the Seattle Mountaineers. Kupperberg was the last man on this rope. He slipped and fell and pulled Stevens and Marshall off their footing. Momentum was gained rapidly on the 40 degree sloping ice-covered snow. Ice axe arrests were not sufficient to provide slowing or stopping of the fall. The rope slid about 1,000 feet, passed over one crevasse and fell into another to a depth of 125 feet or so. Marshall fortunately fell in such a way and on some snow so that his fall was cushioned. The other two were buried by snow and ice that fell into the crevasse with them. Members of the climbing party were assisted by two other parties from Bremerton and Tacoma in rescuing Marshall from the crevasse. National Park Service Rangers were notified and a team of four were flown in by helicopter. Marshall was flown out to a hospital. The bodies of Stevens and Kupperberg were later raised to the Glacier.

Source: Clyde M. Lockwood, Asst. Chief Ranger, Mt. Rainier Nat. Park.

Analysis: Kupperberg fell twice before the final fall. According to Marshall, after Kupperberg’s first fall he complained that he had difficulty in arresting himself. Marshall tried to get Kupperberg to change positions on the rope, to go first in place of Marshall but Kupperberg refused. When the final fall came they were on a descending traverse with the snow sloping to the left. No one knows for sure who fell first. Disagreement within a rope team should be evaluated by the party leader and reassignments made if indicated. It should also be pointed out that conditions were very bad and other persons in this party and in two other parties were having trouble with their footing on the ascent and the descent.