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Show making the Chute soft. Crags above the Chute were plastered with snow and ice. Forty- four members of the party arrived on the summit at noon; four of the boys had elected to stay at the upper Hot Rocks. After reaching the top, some immediately started back down, following the same route they had taken on the ascent. The Scouts and their leaders were divided into nine ropes; the accident involved the next to the last rope to leave the summit. Two of the people on this rope were adults, and the other three were Scouts. The party went straight down the chute to a point above a horizontal crevasse. At that point they traversed diagonally downward to the west to go around the end of the crevasse. From there they made a diagonal traverse downward and east toward the upper Hot Rocks. While passing under the crags west of the Chute, this roped party of five was caught by an avalanche of snow and ice from the crags. They were warned by a call from the last rope, which was then waiting to follow along behind. Though most of the party were able to dig in, one person was apparently still in motion when the avalanche hit. All were swept down into a crevasse, with a drop of approximately fifteen to twenty feet, and were covered with the falling snow and ice. RESCUE Other climbers within the Crater area immediately hurried to the crevasse. Several were lowered into the crevasse and began to dig out those who were buried. The snow and ice which covered the buried climbers had frozen and compacted. Digging was difficult and was accomplished only by the aid of ice axes. More snow and ice fell into the crevasse, piling up on the searchers as they worked. The first three victims were quickly uncovered and hauled out of the crevasse by a straight lift. They were escorted down the mountain until a Forest Service crew met them. It was later learned that one had a fractured vertebra, while the other two received only bruises. The fourth man was buried deeply in a prone position and was unconscious when first uncovered. One of the rescuers was successful in restoring normal breathing by simply pushing on his chest. The digging out of this victim was completed despite falling snow and ice, after which he was hauled out by use of simple rope slings. The fifth climber, D. D., was the most deeply buried, and by the time he was reached, which was fifteen to twenty minutes later, he was in a serious condition. As soon as he was dug out, he was moved to a point under the North wall of the crevasse, to avoid falling snow and ice. Artificial respiration was applied for about a half hour, while a litter was being improvised from a pack board, ski poles, and climbing rope. By the time the litter was ready, snow and ice falling from above had piled up in the crevasse until they could carry D. D. out by simply walking over the lower lip of the crevasse. Artificial respiration was continued for a total of about three and a half hours. 51 |