Solo climber another Spring fatality on Cooper Spur on Mt. Hood

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Solo climber another fatality on Mt. Hood's Cooper Spur

Mount Hood climber identified as Seattle man
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Saturday, June 25, 2005

A Seattle climber died Friday after falling down the east side of Mount Hood, authorities said.

The climber was identified as Todd R. Engelhardt, 34.

The fall was reported about 6:15 a.m. on the Cooper Spur route along the Newton-Clark glacier, according to the Hood River County sheriff's office.

Engelhardt was believed to be at about the 10,000-foot level of the mountain when he fell more than 1,000 feet. The cause of the accident was unclear.

Engelhardt was climbing alone. He was well-equipped, authorities said.

Steve Rollins, vice president of Portland Mountain Rescue and a seasoned rescuer, said the Cooper Spur route is difficult and the final 2,000 feet can be dangerous.

An Army National Guard helicopter crew recovered the body, said Capt. Mike Braibish, National Guard spokesman.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=OR%20Climber%20Death

Solo climb of Mount Hood ended in fatal fall
Seattle Post Intelligencer
By Gordy Holt
Tuesday, June 28, 2005

For one reason or another, one after another, Todd Engelhardt's climbing pals bailed out on his plan to climb Mount Hood in Oregon last week.

So Engelhardt went alone. He planned to climb the mountain's Cooper Spur route, a long spine of snow on rock with views north across the Columbia River to the 11,239- foot mountain's sister volcanoes in Washington: Adams, St. Helens and Rainier.

Perhaps he should have waited.

He didn't, and he died there Friday morning.

A friend, Dennis Burnett, said Engelhardt showed him a map of the mountain, pointing to spots on the route where trouble could be expected.

"He pointed to the place where he said he'd end up falling if he messed up. He told me, 'This is the line I'm going to take.' He knew with 100 percent certainty what could happen to him if something did go wrong, and it did."

A report from the Hood River County Sheriff's Office said Engelhardt fell about 1,500 feet, but appeared to have been well-equipped for a route that has taken the lives of at least 16 climbers since records first were kept.

Engelhardt, 34, came from the comparative flats of Pennsylvania, where he was raised, and Oxford, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English and journalism at Miami University, before surrendering to the call of the Northwest's vertical geography.

He let high-mountain living tug him first to Portland, where he paid his way by working for a couple of brew pubs, and then to Seattle and a job at another brew pub three years ago.

"When we hired him, he insisted on Saturdays and Sundays off," said Todd Carden, owner of the popular Elliott Bay Brewery Pub in West Seattle, where Engelhardt was a waiter.

It was there that he earned the nickname "Gravy," said Burnett, a fellow waiter.

Seems the restaurant's heat, combined with the heat of body parts rubbing, could be eased for Engelhardt with strategic dustings of that time-tested heat remedy, cornstarch.

"So we always kidded him about making gravy in his pants," Burnett said.

Engelhardt's girlfriend, Christy Bemis, said he always gave her a sheet of paper detailing his climbs, where he would be, the routes he would take and when to get worried.

On this one he wrote, "If you don't hear from me by noon, call the Hood River Sheriff."

With July 4 and the heat of summer looming, this was to have been Engelhardt's last big mountain for a while, Bemis said. Over Father's Day weekend, he climbed Mount Daniel in the North Cascades.

"He was fully aware of the dangers," she said. "He expected to start climbing (Mount Hood) about 10 at night because there was to be a full moon."

Dan Schrader was on the list of those Engelhardt would have teamed up with had schedules matched.

"But most of us work during the week and couldn't get off," Schrader said. "I told him I couldn't make it, and that's the last I heard."

Shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, two unidentified climbers saw Engelhardt fall and called Clackamas County 911.

A search plane later spotted the body. It lay below the spur's south side, at the 8,500-foot level of Newton-Clark Glacier.

A ground crew and two Oregon National Guard helicopters were dispatched to retrieve it.

John Godino, secretary of The Mazamas, a Portland-based climbing organization, said the Cooper Spur route has become Mount Hood's deadliest, partly because a fall from the upper 500 feet "will take a person over near-vertical snow or rock.

"Apparently, that's what happened here. But there is really no way of knowing, since it was a solo climb. There was no one to say exactly where the fall took place. Or why."

Carden, the Elliott Bay Brewery Pub owner, said a celebration of Engelhardt's life will take place between 1 and 4 p.m. July 4 at the pub where he worked, 4720 California Ave. S.W. in West Seattle.

Engelhardt is survived by his parents, Paul Engelhardt of Hanover, Pa., and Elizabeth Yaekle of Granville, Ohio.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/230336_climber28.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=0

What can mountain climbers learn from this tragic death?

Todd Engelhardt may have been another victim of soft spring snow on steep volcanic slopes this spring. At least 16 climbers have died from falls from the steep slopes of Cooper Spur. Cooper Spur should not be down-climbed after the spring sun strikes the steep slopes. Another descent route should be planned. Possible causes, a slip in soft snow while downclimbing or a slough avalanche that overwhelmed the climber. Climbing alone carries special risks that can be mitigated by companions.
--Robert Speik