Deadliest avalanche of season strikes Washington when three are swept down mountain
UPDATE: The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office identified the three climbers who died in the avalanche as Seong Cho, a 54-year-old man living in West Hartford, Connecticut; Jeannie Lee, a 60-year-old woman from Bayside, New York; and Yun Park, a 66-year-old man from Palisades Park, New Jersey. Their bodies had not been recovered as of Feb. 22 because of weather conditions.
The original story is below.
Three climbers were killed in the deadliest avalanche of the season when they were swept hundreds of feet down a steep Washington mountainside, rescuers said.
Six people set out to climb Colchuck Peak on Sunday, Feb. 19, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a Feb. 21 news release.
The lead climber triggered an avalanche when they tried to ascend the Northeast Couloir. A couloir is a narrow and steep gully on a mountain.
Four climbers were carried 500 feet down the mountain in the mass of snow, deputies said.
The climbers were buried, according to the Northwest Avalanche Center.
A 56-year-old man from New York survived the avalanche with non-life-threatening injuries and hiked back to camp with the two other climbers.
The three people who died were a 60-year-old woman from New York, a 66-year-old man from New Jersey and a 53-year-old man from Connecticut, deputies said.
Rescuers responded to the camp and tried to reach the bodies, but couldn’t because of hazardous conditions.
The three climbers who survived were taken back to the trail head.
As of Feb. 21, rescuers were still not able to reach the climbers who died on the mountain.
It’s been ruled the deadliest avalanche of the season, according to avalanche.org.
The last avalanche fatality happened on Jan. 9 on Mummy Mountain, west of Las Vegas. A man was killed while he was in the backcountry area of Spring Mountain National Recreation area.
Colchuck Peak is about 8 miles southwest of Leavenworth.
What to know about avalanches
Avalanches happen quickly and catch people by surprise. They can move between 60 and 80 mph and typically happen on slopes of 30-45 degrees, according to experts.
Skiers, snowmobilers and hikers can set off an avalanche when a layer of snow collapses and starts to slide down the slope.
In the U.S., avalanches are most common from December to April, but they can happen at any time if the conditions are right, National Geographic reported.
At least nine people in the U.S. have died in avalanches this season as of Feb. 19, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
People heading into snow should always check the local avalanche forecast at Avalanche.org, officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, and have an avalanche beacon, probe and shovel ready.
“Emergency services are usually too far away from the scene of an avalanche, and time is important,” Simon Trautman, a national avalanche specialist, said. “A person trapped under the snow may not have more than 20 or 30 minutes. So, in a backcountry scenario, you are your own rescue party.”
If an avalanche breaks out, it’s best to move diagonal to the avalanche to an edge, Trautman said.
“Try to orient your feet downhill so that your lower body, not your head, takes most of the impact,” officials said. “You may also get into a tight ball as another way to protect your head.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 10:29 AM with the headline "Deadliest avalanche of season strikes Washington when three are swept down mountain."
