CLIMBING ALONE

Washington, Mount Rainier

On January 6, 1985, the park communications center received information that there was a climber in the White River area who was preparing for a solo climb. This information was relayed to Park Ranger Bob Martin who was in that area. Martin contacted the climber, Faut D. Dikmen (28) and informed him of park regulations and safety concerns on solo climbs. Martin then prepared a solo climb request and forwarded it to the park’s management.

The solo request for Dikmen to leave White River, traverse the north side of the mountain to Liberty Ridge, climb the Liberty Ridge route to the Summit and descend to Paradise was approved on January 7. The approval was relayed to Dikmen through Pierce County Deputy Sheriff Bob Hoffman who lives outside the park, near the White River Entrance.

By January 15, Dikmen had not checked out from his climb as he had planned. There was no great concern, as the weather on the 14th had been bad and held up other climbers at Camp Muir. It was felt that Dikmen was held up a day from the weather. A check was made of the Carbon River area, as Dikmen intended to exit that route if he had problems. There was no sign of Dikmen in the Carbon River area.

On January 16, a ground and aerial search was begun and continued through January 20. The search was extensive, but the victim was not found. His body was eventually found on May 19 by a climbing party at the 3575 meter level. The cause of death is unknown at this writing. (Source: Mount Rainier National Park reports)

Analysis

Faut Dikman, a Turkish citizen, stated he was a Doctoral Candidate at a Wisconsin university, and had spent his last cent on equipment and transportation for this trip. Some time during the conversation Dikmen indicated to me, totally unsolicited, “Hey, I’m not going up there to commit suicide or anything. ” He went on to state he was an experienced climber and had soloed numerous mountains including Shasta, Ararat (Turkey), and McKinley, and had participated in three or four group climbs on Rainier, but was only successful once via the Emmons Glacier, which he and a friend had not registered for. Judging from his past experience and seemingly adequate equipment, I informed him that I would attempt to get him a Solo Climbing Permit.

Upon my arrival at Park Headquarters in Ashford, Sunday evening, I filled out a Solo Request Form, obtained a weather update and placed the package in the Superintendent’s Office. I had noted on said request a concern about Mr. Dikmen having no experience on his intended route and that he had no avalanche training or experience.

As a precaution in the future, I would like to offer a few recommendations for solo climbing attempts. The Park could explore the possibility of issuing and mandating the use of a bright orange pack cover and/or tent cover. This would better facilitate the aerial observation of a soloist. In addition, we might consider issuing flares or even explore the possibility of issuing a transponder or five watt to them. Basically anything we could do or mandate which would better facilitate a more rapid response would be of great assistance to help those who very well may get into trouble on our sometimes hostile “Tahoma.” (Source: Excerpts from a report by Bob Martin, Ranger, Mount Rainier National Park)