FALL INTO CREVASSE

Washington, Mount Rainier, Ingraham Glacier

About 5:00 p.m. on July 7, rangers at Camp Muir were notified by Rainier Mountaineering, Inc., of a climbing team of three at the 13,000-foot level on the Ingraham Glacier in possible need of assistance. One of the team (49) was crossing a snow bridge when he fell ten feet into a crevasse. Though his fall was arrested by his two climbing partners, he injured his shoulder. They were descending slowly to their camp at Ingraham Flats.

Rangers Ken Davies and Lynn Finnel were dispatched from Camp Muir to assess and assist the injured climber. At Ingraham Flats, they found the team and Ken Davies, an EMT, performed an initial medical assessment. He placed a sling and swathe on the injured shoulder. The climber said he could walk, but that he could not tolerate any weight on his shoulder. The rangers assisted him in descending to Camp Muir. The climbers continued on down to the Paradise parking area. Enroute they met two physicians. Their examination indicated that the injury was probably a dislocation. (Source: Bergtrage)

(Editor’s Note: This was the only report from Mount Rainier for the year. Note this data which comes from Ranger Mike Gauthier’s website: www.mountrain- ierclimbing, blogspot. com

Total Climbers Registered in 2006 = 9,154, Independent Climbers = 5,022, Guides and Clients = 4,132, Total Summits = 5,787

“More exciting than summit attempts and success is the fact that we had no major rescues on the upper mountain in 2006! That’s right, no fatalities or serious accidents above 10,000 feet. This is somewhat of a remarkable accomplishment, and the NPS would like to thank all the climbers for making safe decisions that contributed to this amazing statistic. No serious accidents: This is a trend we would like to see continue. ”)