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Climber Killed By Rockfall On Mount Rainier, Two Others Flown Out With Injuries

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Published Date

May 30, 2019
A rockfall killed one climber and injured two others on the Liberty Ridge route up Mount Rainier/NPS

A rockfall killed one climber and injured two others on the Liberty Ridge route up Mount Rainier. This file photo is of the west side of the ridge/NPS

A rockfall high up on Mount Rainier killed one climber and left two others with injuries that required that they be rescued by helicopter, while three other climbers were unharmed.

The rockfall struck Wednesday evening about 8 p.m. and came down on three two-climber parties at 10,400 feet on the Liberty Ridge route to the 14,411-foot summit. 

A rescue effort was mounted Thursday morning with the park helicopter. The whirlybird first conducted an aerial reconnaissance of the area, and then retrieved the most seriously injured climber, transferring him via Airlift Northwest to Harborview Hospital in Seattle.

The second injured climber and the deceased individual were flown out at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and transferred, respectively, to Arbor Health, Morton Hospital in Morton, Washington, and to the Pierce County Medical Examiner.

The remaining three climbers were flown off the mountain at 4:45 p.m. Thursday.

Identities of the climbers were not immediately released.

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