Three climbers die, three others rescued

SEATTLE – As a team of climbers tried to haul its injured leader to safety, a refrigerator-size boulder crashed down, killing three people and leaving the survivors stranded overnight on a cold, rain-slickened ridge in North Cascades National Park.

The three survivors were rescued Monday when clouds lifted, allowing helicopters to reach the snowy mountainside.

The six climbers, on a training climb organized by a respected mountaineering club, did what they should have when team leader Jo Backus, 61, was injured Sunday by a smaller rock slide, park spokesman Tim Manns said.

That they ended up in the path of a second more serious slide appears to be a terrible coincidence.

“You look at the route, you assess things, and still, doing everything right, you can end up in this tragic situation,” said Steve Costie, Seattle chapter director for the Mountaineers.

Manns identified the dead as Backus of Tacoma; Mark Harrison of Bellevue, Wash.; and John Augenstein of Seattle. Their ages were not immediately available.

Wayne McCourt of Fife, Wash., suffered a head injury and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was listed in satisfactory condition Monday afternoon.

Two other climbers, identified as Michael Hannam of Olympia and Janel Fox of Seattle, were uninjured.

The survivors were flown from the ridge near Sharkfin Tower on Monday morning, Manns said. The bodies were removed by midday, and the Skagit County coroner is planning autopsies.

Sharkfin Tower, elevation 8,120 feet, is located along a ridge of peaks in Boston Basin, 90 miles northeast of Seattle. Popular with local climbers, it is considered a moderately difficult climbing area.

The accident was the “worst disaster” for the Mountaineers, which has chapters across Washington, Costie said. It also is believed to be the first multiple-death climbing accident in more than 10 years in North Cascades National Park, Manns said.

“A lot of climbing goes on here, but the climbers tend to be well-experienced and equipped, and, therefore, accidents are few,” he said.

The group had not reached the summit of Sharkfin Tower when it decided to head back down Sunday afternoon, Manns said. Backus was injured about that time, prompting the others to move her to what they believed to be a safe spot and prepare to descend farther.

“She was able to move on her own in company with the rest of the group,” Manns said. “They were re-rigging their ropes to continue the descent when the larger rock fell.”

Park rangers learned of the accident from other climbers who reported it using a cellphone.

A guide from Alpine Ascents International assisted the distressed party after the accident, program director Gordon Janow said.

That guide, Pat Timson, spent the night with the distressed party, along with four climbing rangers and a paramedic who had hiked in to provide aid, Manns said.

McCourt passed in and out of consciousness while enduring a cold, rain-soaked night on the mountain. “It was a long, difficult night to make it through, and he did,” Manns said.

“We don’t take it lightly. These people are in it like apprentices and they work their way up,” Costie said. “You can’t do it overnight, so we take a lot of time with them.”

Backus’ family said she was an experienced climber, summiting nearly 200 peaks over the course of 20 years. She was a registered nurse and is survived by three grown children and her husband, Jim.