An 80-year-old Washington man died while trying to climb Mount Rainier/Gary Vogt file
An 80-year-old mountaineer attempting a solo climb of Mount Rainier was found dead five days after he was reported as overdue.
Rangers found a man matching the description of Dawes Eddy, of Spokane, Washington, on Tuesday at an elevation of 11,500 feet on the Ingraham Direct climbing route.
Eddy, an accomplished climber who had summited the 14,111-foot mountain 49 times, had embarked on a solo climb of Mount Rainier on Tuesday, May 30, said a release from Mount Rainier National Park. The last confirmed sighting of Eddy was at 8:30 p.m. that day, heading uphill at Cathedral Gap.
Rangers were notified of an overdue climber on June 1 and immediately used aerial and ground resources to search likely climbing routes.
Over the course of the six-day operation, the park’s A-STAR helicopter and ground teams searched both the upper and lower mountain portions of Eddy’s probable route. On Saturday, June 3, the Army National Guard 1-168th General Support Aviation Battalion Blackhawk helicopter conducted a forward-looking infrared night operation flight of the Nisqually and Cowlitz Glaciers. During the operation, no signs of body heat of a solo climber were detected.
On Monday, June 5, at approximately 9 p.m., two guides from Rainier Mountaineering, Inc., spotted an unresponsive climber in a crevasse while doing route work. RMI then notified the park.
On Tuesday, the park’s exclusive use helicopter performed a reconnaissance flight of the crevasse. Following the flight, a team of four climbing rangers and one RMI guide ascended on foot to the scene. They assessed the situation and successfully recovered Eddy's body, which was then flown off the mountain. Eddy first summited the mountain at the age of 66 in 2009, and became the oldest American to do so.
Mount Rainier National Park is renowned as a popular climbing destination. Solo climb permits are declined or approved based on a combination of factors including the applicant’s experience, skill, plan, forecasted weather, the proposed route and dates, and their equipment list.
This was the second death on the mountain in the past week.
Brian Harper, 41, of Bremerton, Washington, was on a guided climb May 31 led by Alpine Ascents International when he collapsed about 7:30 a.m. near the top of the 14,441-foot mountain. Guides could not detect a pulse and CPR was unsuccessful.
