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August 23, 2013 by PMR

Ecola Falls Body Recovery

At approximately 2:15 p.m. on August 23, 2013, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office requested Portland Mountain Rescue to recover the body of deceased hiker near Multnomah Falls. The hiker apparently had fallen from a location near the Larch Mountain Trail (Trail #441) down a steep slope near Ecola Falls on Multnomah Creek (approximately 1/2 mile south of Multnomah Falls).

By 4:00 p.m., the first team of PMR rescuers arrived at base. They reached the scene around 5:00 p.m. and developed a plan for raising the body from the creek back to the trail. A larger team of PMR rescuers then hauled a litter, ropes and other technical gear to the area. The rescuers first moved the body a short distance downstream to a better location. There they set up a rope system and raised the body to the trail. At the trail, they attached a single large wheel to the litter and transported the body back to the Multnomah Falls trail-head. All rescuers were out of the field by 8:15 p.m.

We offer our condolences to the victim’s family and friends. This mission is sad reminder that terrain in the Columbia Gorge poses significant dangers, especially when hikers venture even a short distance off trail.

August 12, 2013 by PMR

Fallen Climber on Cooper Spur Route

On August 11, 2013, Sebastian Kinasiewicz of Poland attempted to climb Mt. Hood by the Cooper Spur route. Mr. Kinasiewicz was a Polish soldier participating in drone training at InSitu in Bingen, Washington. According to media accounts, Mr. Kinasiewicz had hoped to place a Polish flag on the summit of Mt. Hood. He was reported to be a novice climber.

Mr. Kinasiewicz was reported missing Monday morning and his car was found at the Tilly Jane trailhead on the north side of Mt. Hood. Shortly after noon on August 12, the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office requested Portland Mountain Rescue to assist the Crag Rats in searching for him. At that time, the sheriff was not aware that Mr. Kinasiewicz intended to climb the mountain or by what route. Before PMR members actually entered the field to search, the sheriff’s office obtained new information and determined that the searching would resume the following morning on the Cooper Spur route and the Elliot Glacier.

Early on August 13, a Crag Rat team headed up the Cooper Spur Route. A PMR team ascended the east side of the Elliot Glacier in the fall line from the Cooper Spur Route. Witness reports were received of a lone climber on Cooper Spur on the afternoon of the 11th. The Crag Rat team followed a single set of tracks up the route. The tracks stopped abruptly on ice about 100’ from the summit. Shortly after that discovery, an Army National Guard helicopter arrived and began searching the area below the terminus of the tracks. They quickly spotted a body midway down the east gully on the mountain’s northern face. This gulley is long and steep and poses extreme rock fall hazard when it is not covered in ice or snow.

Based on the extreme hazard posed by the location of the body, the sheriff’s office determined that the body could not be extracted safely by ground crews. The same conclusion was reached with respect to a helicopter extraction using the resources available. Recovery of the body may be possible during winter conditions.

PMR extends its condolences to the Mr. Kinasiewicz’ family and friends and we are disappointed that we cannot immediately bring closure by recovering his body.

We encourage back country travelers to know their route and know the conditions. The Cooper Spur route poses significant dangers and is not an appropriate route for a novice, especially a lone climber. Generally, the Cooper Spur route is not a safe choice once rock becomes exposed in late spring. Multiple fatalities and injuries have occurred on this route due to both falls and rock fall.

August 3, 2013 by PMR

Body Recovery: Ice Cave on White River Glacier

On Saturday, August 3, 2013, a group of six or seven snowboarders from Timberline Ski Area were exploring an ice cave or overhung crevasse on White River Glacier at about 8100’. White River Glacier is located to the northeast of the Timberline Ski Area boundary. While they were in a sort of tunnel in the ice, overhanging snow collapsed, burying or partially burying three of the boarders. According to news accounts, two of boarders were extracted with help from the others, but one member of the party was not located and was believed to be buried deep in the ice.

Around 4:00 p.m. on August 3, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office contacted Portland Mountain Rescue to request assistance in locating and rescuing an avalanche victim on the White River Glacier. Two PMR rescuers joined a team of Crag Rats at the scene. They determined that the accident was the result of a collapsing serac, not an avalanche. They secured the scene for safety by cutting back portions of the remaining overhang and developed a plan for excavating the area the following morning. They estimated that they would have to excavate 10 to 15 feet of ice to reach the victim.

On Saturday, August 4, 2013, a team of five PMR rescuers joined a team of seven Crag Rats who lead the mission. The joint team departed Timberline Lodge around 5:00 a.m. and reached the scene a little before 6:00 a.m. Using chain saws, they cut blocks of ice which were removed by hand using a bucket brigade technique. The victim was located around 9:30 a.m.

The team packaged the body in a portable litter and hauled the body a short distance over difficult terrain. At times, they used a rope system to raise or lower the package. When they reached the ski area, the package was transferred to the Timberline Ski Patrol who moved it down the mountain and delivered it to the medical examiner at Timberline Lodge.

Our rescuers are saddened by this accident and we offer our condolences to the victim’s family and friends. This accident is a reminder that glaciers, and the Cascade Mountains generally, are a dynamic environment where ice and rock can move at any time. PMR encourages back country travelers to obtain appropriate training on safe glacier travel before venturing into glacial terrain.

Excavated area.

Scene on Sunday morning before excavation commenced.

July 14, 2013 by PMR

Stateman Journal covers the Kinley Search

Highly skilled volunteers traverse deadly conditions to search, rescue and bring closure to families of missing climbers.

It was the falling boulders that worried Erik Broms most.

The 59-year-old Portland Mountain Rescue team member figures he’s climbed Mount Hood 200 times, but even he described the conditions as bad during the first days of searching for a climber who’d gone missing that weekend….

June 24, 2013 by PMR

Kinley Adams Search and Recovery on Mt. Hood

Kinley Adams, 59, did not return from a Mt. Hood climb on June 22, 2013 when expected by his family. Mr. Adams had intended to climb the Leuthold Couloir, which is a challenging, but popular route up the west side of the mountain. Under the direction of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, search teams searched the mountain for Mr. Adams from June 23 through June 29. Searchers in a helicopter spotted his body at the top of the Sandy Glacier on June 29. Apparently, Mr. Adams lost his intended route, crossed Yocum Ridge and made his way into a very steep and dangerous area of the Sandy Glacier headwall to the north. There he either fell or was hit by falling rocks or ice. Rescuers recovered his body on June 30.

From the beginning, the search effort was hampered by difficult weather and snow conditions. Beginning on Sunday, June 23, winter storm conditions prevailed on the upper mountain with a snow level around 9000′. Rain soaked the snow at elevations below 9000′. Visibility was poor and wind and precipitation made travel on foot difficult and aerial searching impossible. By mid-week, snow conditions became dangerous with wet snow avalanches occurring throughout the area above 9000′. Due to these conditions, mountain rescue search teams concentrated their efforts below 9000′, especially on the Reid Glacier, for most of the week. On June 23, one Portland Mountain Rescue (PMR) team climbed the Leuthold Couloir to the neck of Hour Glass, but retreated due to poor visibility and unstable snow conditions; they found no clues. The weather and snow conditions remained poor through Thursday evening June 27 when the clouds finally lifted. On Friday June 28, mountain rescue teams climbed to the Hog’s Back on the standard south side route and into the upper Reid Glacier to assess conditions there. They confirmed the prediction that the warming trend made the recent wet snow even more unstable which kept ground teams off of the upper mountain that day.

When the weather finally broke late Thursday, June 27, visibility improved enough for aerial searching. The Oregon Army Guard flew searchers over the Leuthold Couloir route that evening, but no clues were observed. Late in the week an individual who had climbed the Leuthold Couloir the same day as Mr. Adams reported to the Sheriff that he had observed a single set of crampon tracks and a headlamp veering north off the route toward Yocum Ridge early in the morning on June 22. On this information, aerial searching concentrated on the upper portions of the route, Yocum Ridge and then the Sandy Glacier Headwall. Clear weather on Friday and Saturday allowed thorough aerial searching of the upper mountain. On Saturday afternoon, a helicopter team spotted a body presumed to be Mr. Adams on the upper Sandy Glacier. The body was located around 8400′ in a hazardous area of heavy rock fall and was surrounded by rock debris. The remainder of Saturday was devoted to planning a safe means of recovering the body.

On Sunday, June 30, 10 PMR rescuers and two American Medical Response (AMR) Reach and Treat medics left the Top Spur Trailhead around 3:00 a.m. The teams split at McNeil Shelter, with one team of seven PMR rescuers assigned to ascend the Sandy Glacier to the body. The second team including three PMR rescuers and the two AMR medics climbed Cathedral Ridge to scout the most efficient route off of the glacier.

The glacier team traveled up the middle of the glacier in safe areas free of rock fall while skirting the open crevasses. They established a staging area around 8200’ where they assessed the rock fall and other hazards in the chute where the body lay. The rock fall was minimal at that hour so the decision was made to attempt the recovery. A rope team of three rescuers ascended to an area that was level with the elevation of the body and adjacent to the rock filled chute. The remaining four rescuers scanned the slopes above watching for any falling rocks or ice. The team of three set an anchor from which two rescuers dashed into the higher risk area and packaged the body in a portable plastic litter called a Sked. They quickly moved out of the area as the package was pendulumed from the anchor manned by the third member of that rope team. Once back at the safe area, the full team packaged the body more carefully for the journey down the mountain.

Meanwhile, the Cathedral Ridge team located a saddle on the ridge and found a safe and efficient route from there down the Glisan Glacier to the Timberline Trail. Once the glacier team had lowered the package down and across the Sandy Glacier, the ridge team raised it to the saddle and over the ridge. They then lowered it to the Glisan Glacier on the north side of the ridge. They lowered the package down the glacier to Timberline Trail. There they transferred the package to a large team from Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue. Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue completed the arduous task of carrying the package over five miles of snow-drifted and rocky trail to the trail head. The PMR teams were out of the field around 4:00 p.m. The package was delivered to the trail head around 7:00 that same evening.

This eight-day search and recover effort required many hours from committed rescuers and support staff, many of them volunteers. PMR rescuers logged 639 hours in the field. The responding teams and agencies included:

• Portland Mountain Rescue
• Oregon Army National Guard
• Air Force 304th Rescue Squadron
• Mountain Wave Communications
• Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue
• American Medical Response Reach and Treat
• Hood River Crag Rats
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / National Weather Service
• Corvallis Mountain Rescue
• Deschutes County Mountain Rescue
• Eugene Mountain Rescue
• American Red Cross
• Estacada Fire Department
• Clackamas County Chaplain
• Timberline Lodge (RLK Corp.)
• Central Washington Mountain Rescue
• Ski Patrol and Rescue Team from the Seattle area (SPARTA)
• Hood River County Sheriff’s Office
• Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
• 73720410.1 0099885-10004.003

The upper parts of Mt. Hood and other Cascade volcanoes involve complex and dangerous terrain in which a climber easily can lose their route. PMR encourages climbers to:

• Know the route
• Know the conditions
• Be prepared
• Have a backup plan

For any venture into the back country, hikers and climbers need solid navigation skills and should carry and know how to use map and compass to stay on route. Mr. Adams was carrying a cell phone, but it was turned off or damaged and could not be pinged to help identify his location. He was not carrying an emergency communication beacon, but the nature of his injuries suggest that he would not have been able to activate such a device once disaster struck him. This mission illustrates the difficulty of finding a missing person in the back country when they do not have the ability to communicate their location.

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