FALL ON ROCK AND SNOW, BAD WEATHER, INEXPERIENCE Washington, Mt. St. Helens
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Rick Fredrickson (18) was blown off the top of Dogs H ead on M t. St. H elens between the elevation of 7,300–7,400 feet and fell or slid down the snow all the way to the 6,200 foot level to the base of Dogs H ead. T his accident occurred at approxim ately 9 a.m . on M arch 24. T he victim and one other m em ber of his clim bing party were ascending the Dogs H ead route on rope when the accident occurred. T he two other m em bers of the clim bing party had decided that due to high w inds they w ould no longer continue up the Dogs H ead route and were stopped w hen the accident occurred.
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ACCIDENTS IN NORTH AMERICAN MOUNTAINEERING
A fter the accident, one m em ber of the rem aining three m em bers of the party de scended the route to the T im berline parking lot w here the R P m ade contact w ith some snow m obilers in the area at 10:20 a.m . T he R P then left the T im berline parking lot for the accident scene by snow m obile w ith one of the snow m obile parties in the area. Tw o snow m obiles returned to the victim carrying A nderson and the RP. A nderson had also taken w ith him a sleeping bag and a portable CB radio. T he snow m obiles were unable to go all the way to the victim and, due to the icy conditions on top of the snow, the snowm obiles got w ithin 150 yards of the victim. W hen the R P and A nderson continued to the victim, the two other snowm obiles returned to the parking lot at T im berline. Fredrickson suffered a broken elbow, sprained ankle, and cuts and bruises. (Source: D eputy Barker, Skam onia C ounty Sheriff’s Office)
Analysis
T his was Fredrickson’s first clim b. N one of the other m em bers of the party had clim bed the m ountain before. T hey were all from towns in some other state and they were not experienced clim bers. (Source: D eputy Barker, Skam onia C ounty Sheriff’s Office)