What we know about the North Cascades climbing accident that killed three

SEATTLE – Three King County residents fell to their deaths while climbing in the North Cascades over the weekend, while a fourth climber survived.

They were rappelling down the side of a steep gully near the North Early Winters Spire, about 16 miles west of Mazama, when they fell about 400 feet, according to the Okanogan County sheriff’s office search and rescue team.

They fell through “pretty steep” vertical terrain for about 200 feet before tumbling through another 200 feet of “moderate” terrain, said Cristina Woodworth, head of the sheriff’s search and rescue team.

Here’s what we know about the accident that led to their deaths.

What route were they climbing?

The four men were rock climbing in the Early Winter Couloir, a mixed climb along a ribbon of snow and ice that splits the North and South couloirs.

They began descending in a wedge between the north and south spires after noticing a storm was coming in, the sheriff’s office reported.

Conditions on mixed alpine climbing routes, like the Early Winter Couloir, can vary in how dangerous they are, depending on variables like weather, how clear it was overnight, snowfall and the number of warm days we’ve had in the spring. Those variables can change within the day, said Joshua Cole, co-owner of North Cascade Mountain Guides.

The men seemed to have been ascending with the intent to continue up the north spire, but abandoned the climb partway because it was getting too late, Okanogan County Coroner Dave Rodriguez said.

What caused the fall?

All four men were tied to the same anchor point known as a piton that was already embedded in the rock, Rodriguez said. The piton ripped out as they were descending the gully.

They were equipped with helmets and all the right climbing gear for the route, he said, and none of it was worn out. Investigators are not sure how the men were all “roped up,” however.

Search and rescue team members from Okanogan County found the climbers tangled in rope within the rocks and snow. They had to cut through the rope in order to fly out the climbers’ bodies separately.

All four men being tied to the same anchor point is “not preferred,” Okanogan County Undersheriff David Yarnell said.

Who were the climbers?

The names of the climbers were released by Okanogan County officials on Tuesday.

The three who died were Vishnu Irigireddy, 48, of Renton, Washington; Oleksander Martynenko, 36, of Bellevue; and Tim Nguyen, 63, of Renton.

All three died around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, suffering blunt force injuries during the fall.

The fourth climber, who is 38 and from Seattle, spent a number of hours extricating himself from the climbing area.

He suffered internal bleeding and a traumatic brain injury during the fall, but didn’t realize his injuries.

After extricating himself, he walked back to his car parked near a “user trail” and drove 42 miles west to Newhalem where he called 911 using a pay phone at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.

He was taken to Harborview Medical Center and was in satisfactory condition as of Tuesday, hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg said.