Despite Danger, Climbers Allowed In

Calculated danger lies at the heart of mountain climbing, experienced alpine climbers say.

Hence, they are hardly surprised that Mount Rainier's Winthrop Glacier route, where four climbers have fallen to their deaths the past two weekends, remains open.

"I don't think they should shut off the route any more than they should shut Route 405 because there's an accident," said Steve Guthrie, longtime climber and co-owner of Cascade Alpine Guides in Bellevue.

Climbers say it's well-known that Mount Rainier gets icy late in the summer.

Last year, 27 people died mountain climbing in the United States.

And according to the Colorado-based American Alpine Club, Washington state holds the longtime record for fatalities. Over the past 40 years, 258 people have died mountain climbing in Washington - more than in any province of Canada or any U.S. state.

Most experienced alpine climbers in the area, it seems, have friends who never returned from a climb.

Park officials say it's precisely because mountain climbing is such a hazardous sport that they rarely close routes to climbers. Closing routes would create an illusion that routes that are open are safe, said Bill Larson, assistant chief ranger for Mount Rainier National Park.

Larson said the last time they closed a climbing route was in 1978 when they shut Disappointment Cleaver because of avalanche conditions.

"We created a policy at that time not to close routes but attempt to advise park users of known existing conditions," he said.

The Winthrop Glacier route, on the north side of the peak, is the park's second most popular climb.

It's not considered difficult.

"It's very simple, it's very straightforward," said Mark Gunlogson, an experienced alpine guide who has made the climb several times.

The only concessionaire allowed to guide climbs on Mount Rainier is Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI). No one at RMI was available for comment.

Larson said ice likely contributed to Sunday's accident.

Scott Jon Porter, 32, and Karl Marshall Ahrens, 35, both of Redmond, fell more than 2,400 feet while traversing Winthrop Glacier about 2 p.m. Sunday. And 30-year-old Brian Nelson, the group leader who survived the fall, was listed in critical but stable condition last night with severe head injuries at Madigan Army Medical Center.

Two park rangers died the previous weekend on the same glacier when they fell 1,300 feet while trying to rescue an injured climber.

A memorial service for the two rangers, Sean Ryan, 23, and Phillip Otis, 22, will be held at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Rainier Vista, west of Husky Stadium and south of the Drumheller Fountain.

Mount Rainier is typically icy at high elevations later in the season, Larson said, but this year the ice developed more quickly. Fresh snowfall followed by rain and fog created a slick layer of ice topped with "ryme ice" not unlike a thick frozen frost on a windshield. Slick ice can make it impossible for climbers to dig in their crampons or ice axes and "self arrest."

Experienced alpine climbers in the area support the park policy not to close routes. Closing routes would fly in the face of this extreme sport, they say.

"Part of the appeal is that the stakes do count," said Dunham Gooding, longtime guide and founder of the American Alpine Institute in Bellingham. "If you get sloppy in your judgment or careless in your technical skill, you're likely to be inconvenienced, injured or something worse.

"I think our society has a craving to have a strong experience in their life where the buck stops completely with them," Gooding suggested.

Serious climbers insist they're not adrenaline junkies searching for a thrill. The old equation "95 percent boredom and 5 percent sheer terror" fits better.

Guthrie likened the exhilaration climbers feel to a runner's high.

"You get into this little place in your brain where you can be aware of everything around you," he explained. "You feel your body, but you don't feel it the same way that you do normally."

Park officials do not know what caused Sunday's accident.

For unknown reasons, Porter, Ahrens and Nelson had separated from the other three members of their team. Larson said Porter's brother, Steve Porter, dropped out shortly after starting.

At some other point, two other members of the team identified by the park rangers as Dennis Sorottins and Jeff Lippens turned back.

"We may never know why they fell," Larson said.

According to relatives, Porter and Ahrens were experienced outdoorsmen in good shape but with little climbing experience. It was their first ascent of Mount Rainier.

Ahrens' brother James Ahrens said the men were equipped for the ascent and that leader Brian Nelson was an experienced climber who had climbed Mount Rainier twice before.

Seattle Times reporters Susan Byrnes and Keith Ervin contributed to this report.

------------------------ MOUNT RAINIER FATALITIES ------------------------

The deaths Sunday of Scott Porter and Karl Ahrens bring the total number of recorded fatalities on Mount Rainier to 67. Before last week's fall, the last fatal accident on the mountain was in 1992. The worst climbing accident in U.S. history happened on Mount Rainier in June 1981, when 10 climbers and a guide were buried under tons of ice at the 11,000-foot level.