Climbers died of hypothermia, injuries

A Spokane man died from hypothermia and his son was killed by head trauma when the climbing team perished last week near Leavenworth, Wash., according to autopsies. Chelan County Coroner Wayne Harris determined Monday that 53-year-old Otto Vaclavek died from hypothermia.

“Looking at photographs, during the fall he may have fallen between two rocks,” said Harris, who speculated that Vaclavek was unable to get out from between the rocks.

Harris said that Vaclavek suffered no other injuries, but Vaclavek’s 12-year-old son, Max, died from “blunt force trauma” to the head from hitting a rock.

“He was wearing a helmet, but the trauma was below the helmet line,” Harris said.

Harris said that Otto and Max Vaclavek were climbing a glacier and likely slipped on the ice, dropping 100 to 150 feet over a cliff and onto rocks below. They were not roped together.

Both were experienced mountaineers. They set out Sept. 15 and didn’t return home on Sept. 17 as expected.

Friends and rescue workers searched for several days, finding their bodies Saturday in a gully between Colchuck Peak and Dragontail Peak.

Otto Vaclavek worked at Mountain Gear, a Spokane store that sells equipment for climbing and other outdoor sports.