Fatal Alpine Accidents

An American climber named Cassy Doolittle died while climbing in Patagonia last week, her family is now seeking help to bring her remains home. A fundraiser was started by a friend of Doolittle who worked with her at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. According to the friend, Doolittle sent out a distress call while rock climbing in Argentina but due to unforgiving terrain and too few rescue volunteers, her body could not be recovered. The family has now hired a team to recover her remains and transport her to a funeral home. Climber Dies in Patagonia, Family Wants to Bring Her Home

  A climber has been killed in an avalanche on the UK's highest mountain - the first such white death in Scotland in nearly three years. The 49-year-old man was with a fellow climber on Ben Nevis when they plunged nearly 2000 feet on the 4413ft high mountain's North Face. The other climber - who is 42 - miraculously survived but suffered serious injuries. Nearly 40 rescuers from  Lochaber  and Glencoe mountain rescue teams were sent after the alarm raised around 3.30pm on Friday. The pair - both UK based - were were a group of four on Number Two Gully, and the other two raised the alarm. But Donald Paterson, leader of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, said the initial information was "patchy". "It appears they were near the top and their weight made a cornice (an overhanging ledge of snow) give way and that triggered the avalanche," he said. Massive Ben Nevis avalanche leaves one climber dead and another seriously injured after 2,000ft plunge Avalanche Kills Cl

  On December 26, a father and his three teenage sons went backcountry skiing in Berthoud Pass, Colorado. The father (Rider 1) rode down the Nitro Chute area while the three teenagers (Riders 2 and 3, and Skier 1) stayed behind to build a jump. At around 12:40 PM, an avalanche occurred and Rider 1 was swept away by the flowing snow. Riders 2 and 3 and Skier 1 were also caught in the avalanche, but Skier 1 was able to get out of the flowing snow. Riders 2 and 3 tried to run out of the avalanche path, but Rider 2 only managed to partially escape and Rider 3 was pushed further downhill. When the avalanche stopped, Riders 1 and 3 were missing. Rider 2 and Skier 1 searched for them using their avalanche transceivers and were able to find Rider 3, who was partially buried. They were then joined by several other backcountry tourers who had witnessed the avalanche. The responders left Rider 3 partially buried and began searching for Rider 1. They located his transceiver signal and were able to

A tourist from Hong Kong has died and another city resident suffered hypothermia after they were caught in a snowstorm while hillwalking in Japan’s Hokkaido region. The dead man, named by Japanese media outlet Hokkaido News as Pang Kam-ho, 37, was part of a group of three Hongkongers walking on Mount Tokachi who became separated in the storm as they made their descent on Wednesday. One of the men managed to take refuge in a mountainside hut and called police in nearby Asahikawa at about 12.40pm. He told officers he had become separated from his friends and had lost contact with them after the weather worsened. The police alerted a mountain rescue team, which found the missing men at around 5pm on Thursday. One was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other, 35, had minor injuries and hypothermia, Hokkaido media outlet NHK said.

John Bachar died at age 52, in his hometown of Mammoth Lakes, California after he fell from a steep structure called the Dike Wall. Although his life hasn’t been free of controversies, he still received some of the greatest honors and respect from his fellow peers for his contribution to the world of rock climbing. Bachar died after slipping and falling from the Dike Wall near his house. Commenting on his death, Smoot said,  “John Bachar’s death did not surprise me. I accepted it with a grim admiration […] He was supposed to die that way. An ordinary death would not have befitted this legend” . “He Was Supposed to Die That Way”: Rock Climbing Legend, Famous for Not Using Ropes, Received the Highest Honor From Peers After an Unfortunate Event Took Him Away Dike Wall, north face

  An unidentified 54-year-old man died in an apparent fall in Death Valley National Park. A campground host first noticed a tent that remained standing past its due date, and after rangers left a note in the tent and failed to connect with the visitor, officials returned to remove the property from the site and found technical gear within the tent. The rangers recalled seeing a vehicle at the Mosaic Canyon Trailhead a few days earlier, and ran the plates on the vehicle, which matched the campsite registration information, prompting a rescue attempt. The man's body was eventually located within the west fork of the Mosaic Canyon canyon. The rope that he was rappelling with was too short, and it appears that he fell while trying to pass a knot he created to extend the rope. He fell around 30 feet. Rappeller Dead In Death Valley

  A 44-year-old snowboarder died in a deep snow immersion incident at the Mount Baker Ski Area in Washington state on Saturday. The incident occurred in the Pan Dome area, a seldom skied zone of the mountain just north of Chair 1. Heavy snowfall was reported at the time of the incident. A group of riders in the area reported seeing the tip of a snowboard sticking out of the snow around 11:15 am on Saturday and ski patrol was dispatched to the scene. The snowboarder had been buried for an unknown length of time and was found unresponsive and CPR and other medical measures were performed, but to no avail. This is the first fatality at Mount Baker this season. Snowboarder Killed in Deep Snow Immersion Incident at Mount Baker Ski Area, WA, on Saturday

"..A New Hampshire hiker who plunged 300 feet to his death while snapping photographs with his wife on a mountain has been identified as a beloved, deaf railroad engineer. Joe “Eggy” Eggleston, 59, and his wife, Kelley, 57, were on the summit of Mount Willard in Crawford Notch on Saturday morning when tragedy struck, the Daily Mail reported. “The hiker’s wife heard her husband yell and looked over to notice him falling over the edge of the mountain down a steep cliff that extended to the bottom approximately 800 feet,” the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a statement. After Kelley called 911 about 10:30 a.m., members of the Mountain Rescue Service responded, rappelled down the cliff and found Eggleston about 2:30 p.m., NBC Boston reported. His body was lying about 300 feet from where he fell." NH hiker who fell to his death off cliff while taking pics ID’d as Joe Eggleston

"..Arock climber was free-soloing on El Cajon Mountain in San Diego on Sunday when he fell to his death. The identity of the 22-year-old has not been released.  A group of nearby climbers witnessed the accident and rushed to help. By the time search and rescue arrived the climber was pronounced dead. One climber, James Faerber, said that he was “traumatized” after witnessing the fall. “I’ve been through a huge range of emotions for sure,” Faerber told the San Diego-Tribune. Lt. Ruben Medina with San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said, “By the time we were able to get to where the climber was, it’s about 2,500 feet in elevation, and it’s about a two-hour hike to get to the climber. So it made yesterday’s recovery impossible.” On Monday, crews spent more than 12 hours making the recovery with the aid of a helicopter. Billy Ortiz, who’s lived in the area for 63 years, told CBS 8 that the climber was on a route at a crag called The Wedge. “It goes up to the left and then the right