Cold/Wind Chill — Cascades of Pierce and Lewis Counties, Washington

2016-03-26 · Cascades of Pierce and Lewis Counties, Washington

Event narrative

On the team's descent from the summit on Saturday, March 26, they were caught out overnight in a winter storm, causing them to take shelter from extreme wind, blowing snow, and frigid temperatures on the lee side of a ridge. During this time it is believed that the man may have succumbed to exposure.

Wider weather episode

He was found where alpinist Monique Richard, 41 of Canada, described last seeing her climbing partner Arvid Lathi, 58 of Norway, in the area of the Gibraltar Ledges route.

They began their climb on Saturday morning, March 26. Private parties at Camp Muir reported overnight gear left there all day when no one returned to use it Saturday night. The park initiated search operations Sunday morning. That afternoon Richard was seen descending from the Gibraltar Ledges route to Camp Muir. Several individuals assisted her to the public shelter at Camp Muir. On Monday she was airlifted to a local hospital.

An unresponsive climber was located in the area of the ledges by air reconnaissance on Monday, March 28. On the climbing team's descent from the summit on Saturday, March 26, they were caught out overnight in a winter storm, causing them to take shelter from extreme wind, blowing snow, and frigid temperatures on the lee side of a ridge. During this time it is believed that Lathi may have succumbed to exposure.

In a separate incident, a 26-year-old man from Lacey was snowshoeing alone over the weekend and was also caught in the storm. He's doing OK but has some frostbite, Wold said. He set off a distress signal from his locater beacon Saturday night. but he managed to reach Camp Muir on his own on Sunday.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 623935. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.