Lessons learned
- Falling into a crevasse really sucks
- Always wear your harness and helmet when on a glacier
- Unroped parties like skiers should consider having two ropes with two different people
- An axe and crampons which actually stick in ice are quite helpful
- A shovel was helpful for clearing snow from the edge of the crevasse without dumping it all over the victim below
- Crevasses are cold wet places, dress accordingly
- GPS tracking can really work
- Mark Smiley's online glacier rescue course was very helpful
- If the victim had to wait another hour for rescue his hypothermia would have been getting really severe, the clock is ticking
- Training for rescues makes you better at rescues
- Needing a rescue on a busy route is better than being in the middle of nowhere
View from the accident site
Background: My long time ski partner Sam Lien and I were out for a big day on Mt Baker on May 29th. We were trying to link up the Park headwall/glacier with the north ridge in a somewhat figure-8 like route starting by going up the Squak. We learned a couple things 1. the mountain was crazy melted out for the time of the year (it was a super hot sunny May) and 2. The timing probably doesn't work for waiting for the Park headwall to thaw then having time to ascend the north ridge and make it home at a reasonable hour (it was a Sunday). We ended up skiing a ways down the Park and then coming back up and over the summit heading back the way we came in. For every trip report on this website there are a handful of days like this one where the ambitious plan doesn't work out for one reason or another.
We started skiing down probably about 4PM, I was sort of mixed in with another group of three who were also skiing out. Conditions were terrific. At one point I stopped to wait for sam, the other group had stopped as well. Then a woman who was walking around below started yelling that someone had fallen into a crevasse. We were about 3/4 of the way up the Squak glacier.
We started skiing down probably about 4PM, I was sort of mixed in with another group of three who were also skiing out. Conditions were terrific. At one point I stopped to wait for sam, the other group had stopped as well. Then a woman who was walking around below started yelling that someone had fallen into a crevasse. We were about 3/4 of the way up the Squak glacier.
B was wedged just ahead of where the red pack is. The pack is hanging from the slings we lifted him from initially.
The Squak is not a particularly daunting glacier, especially compared to other Baker glaciers or many of the Rainier glaciers. Let's just say that it would be easy for an experienced mountain traveler to have their guard down. We were about 3/4 of the way up the glacier, there were some signs of crevasses, but it wasn't super in your face, subtle stuff. Didn't help it was late afternoon and the bridges were all super soft.
Sam made it to me and joined in the rescue effort, the lady pointed out where her partner had fallen in and we approached carefully from below with skis still on. Found a solid feeling place to take them off and started probing around. I volunteered to go to the edge to figure out what needed to happen as I had the most rope experience of anyone in the group. We built a deadman anchor out of some skis and backed it up with a person. I then worked a fixed line to the edge. B, the victim was fortunately communicating with us. I stuck my head over the edge after carefully probing and was able to see him wedged in about 35' down. The crevasse wasn't huge, then again it also wasn't small. There were some small cracks below him but it seemed like he was pretty close to the bottom.
Sam made it to me and joined in the rescue effort, the lady pointed out where her partner had fallen in and we approached carefully from below with skis still on. Found a solid feeling place to take them off and started probing around. I volunteered to go to the edge to figure out what needed to happen as I had the most rope experience of anyone in the group. We built a deadman anchor out of some skis and backed it up with a person. I then worked a fixed line to the edge. B, the victim was fortunately communicating with us. I stuck my head over the edge after carefully probing and was able to see him wedged in about 35' down. The crevasse wasn't huge, then again it also wasn't small. There were some small cracks below him but it seemed like he was pretty close to the bottom.
The bottom? Who Knows. This is right where B's skis landed when he fell.
Since B couldn't move I would need to go down there and get him. Fortunately, he was able to communicate that he was ok other than being stuck and cold. B had fallen in with all his group's glacier gear, but between our group and the three person group (sorry forgot your names guys) we had two ropes and a good deal of gear. We all chatted about the rescue plan and I got ready to go in. The plan was for me to work off a fixed line and then we would raise B on a drop loop after I got a harness on him. Sam would tie in and stay at the edge to communicate, he's also a doctor so it seemed logical to leave him up top so he could render assistance if needed.
I loaded up with climbing gear and other gear and got ready to drop in. I was able to get to B easily with a rappel and moving around down there was pretty easy with my steel point crampons and petzl gully axe. I built a two screw anchor (that's what you do right?) and got to work on B. B was totally wedged and apart from moving his arms above the elbows there wasn't much he could do. One of his tech toes was also still engaged, the other foot just flopping around, ski boot plastic on ice not accomplishing anything.
We tried hauling on him a couple ways that didn't work. At one point he slipped down some and breathing started to become challenging for him, scary stuff. In the end I just threaded some slings through his backpack straps we took a light lift on his backpack and I went down to get his ski off. After the ski was off we were able to wiggle him free and lift him a little more. There was a flat ledge (where I'm standing in the photo above) I was able to get him on standing. I did a quick patient assessment but it really seemed that other than hypothermia he was fine.
I loaded up with climbing gear and other gear and got ready to drop in. I was able to get to B easily with a rappel and moving around down there was pretty easy with my steel point crampons and petzl gully axe. I built a two screw anchor (that's what you do right?) and got to work on B. B was totally wedged and apart from moving his arms above the elbows there wasn't much he could do. One of his tech toes was also still engaged, the other foot just flopping around, ski boot plastic on ice not accomplishing anything.
We tried hauling on him a couple ways that didn't work. At one point he slipped down some and breathing started to become challenging for him, scary stuff. In the end I just threaded some slings through his backpack straps we took a light lift on his backpack and I went down to get his ski off. After the ski was off we were able to wiggle him free and lift him a little more. There was a flat ledge (where I'm standing in the photo above) I was able to get him on standing. I did a quick patient assessment but it really seemed that other than hypothermia he was fine.
The snow bridge had been fully intact when B stopped on it...
I got his harness on him and we set him up with a micro traction in a drop loop haul. The three guys on the surface had no trouble hauling him without additional mechanical advantage (we had padded the upper crevasse edge with a pair of skis). Getting him over the edge was tricky as his crampons didn't fit his ski boots. Sam managed some ice screw and sling shenanigans for his feet. Then he was out. I had a couple minutes to take photos and began breaking everything down. It was at this point i was getting cold, I made the mistake of not wearing a hard shell and was quite soaked, it was a really balmy day on the glacier, but notably colder in the hole.
The haul with Sam sticking his head over the edge
After recovering most of B's gear and having all of mine hauled out I ice climbed out using a nano-traction as a backup on a fixed line. It seemed easier and more fun than getting hauled. When I hit the surface I got several texts from my partner Anne who had noticed my Inreach tracker hadn't transmitted in a while and was last high on a glacier. I texted her back to reassure her that I had been down in a crevasse and would be home past dinner time.
B ended up skiing out. His party had initiated a rescue, but we called it off. SAR certainly could have made it there with a helicopter in another hour or two, but I bet by that point things would have been critical for B, he would have not been skiing away. This was an instance where fast rescue made the difference between having a crappy afternoon and a protracted fight for survival.
The last thought I have is that while I had done very little crevasse rescue practice in recent years other than watching through Mark's online course. I have ben doing a lot of other rescue training as an Arborist and Rope Access Technician. This even includes assisting with rescue competitions. Things would have been a little quicker if my specific crevasse skills and systems had been a tad more sharp but I was able to lean on many years of experience with other rope disciplines combined with some crevasse rescue training and feel good about the systems and how we implemented them.
The big thing that came from other rescue practice which carries over really well was communicating, taking it slow, keeping it simple, and always double checking everything. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
B ended up skiing out. His party had initiated a rescue, but we called it off. SAR certainly could have made it there with a helicopter in another hour or two, but I bet by that point things would have been critical for B, he would have not been skiing away. This was an instance where fast rescue made the difference between having a crappy afternoon and a protracted fight for survival.
The last thought I have is that while I had done very little crevasse rescue practice in recent years other than watching through Mark's online course. I have ben doing a lot of other rescue training as an Arborist and Rope Access Technician. This even includes assisting with rescue competitions. Things would have been a little quicker if my specific crevasse skills and systems had been a tad more sharp but I was able to lean on many years of experience with other rope disciplines combined with some crevasse rescue training and feel good about the systems and how we implemented them.
The big thing that came from other rescue practice which carries over really well was communicating, taking it slow, keeping it simple, and always double checking everything. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.