Missing Climber on Mount Rainier Identified
The missing and presumed dead climber on 14,411-foot Mount Rainier is believed to be 27-year-old Mark Wedeven from Olympia, Washington. Wedeven, along with ten other climbers, was buried in an avalanche high on the Ingraham Glacier on Mount Rainier. Wedeven was climbing alone and had not registered with the National Park Service for a permit.
David Wedeven, his father, told reporters yesterday, "Undoubtedly, he is the climber that is up there." While his mother Carol said, "I think he's under the ice, and I think he's gone." She added, "He said to me, 'Mom, if I die on a mountain, don't worry about it,' and I'm sure it was instant and it was over." Mark Wedeven's body is still on Mount Rainier because bad weather and continued high avalanche danger makes it too difficult and risky for recovery. He is the 96th climber to die on Mount Rainier and the first climbing death since 2005. Park records indicate that there were only 0.18 fatalities per 1,000 climbers between 1998 and 2005.
Most of the climbers caught in the early Saturday morning avalanche were warned by Rainier climbing ranger Tom Payne at Camp Muir that the avalanche danger on the mountain's upper slopes were extreme. "Most of the parties decided not to climb," says Mount Rainier National Park spokesman Kevin Bacher.
After the avalanche, the buried climbers were quickly located and dug out by climbing guides from International Mountain Guides and Rainier Mountaineering Inc., who were fortunately not caught in the slide. Most of the buried climbers were not wearing avalanche transceivers. Instead the guides had to use the traditional probe and poke method as well as follow ropes tied to the climber to find them. Most were buried under less than a foot of snow, but a couple climbers were already blue by the time they were pulled from the snow.
Despite the death of Mark Wedeven, the outcome of this climbing accident was better than could be expected in the extreme circumstances...it could have been much worse. There could have been 11 climbers pulled off the mountain.
Lessons learned: Don't let the promise of good weather after a prolonged spell of bad weather lure you upward; don't let the bad decisions that other climbers might be making influence your decisions; and lastly, always remember that it's okay to follow your intuition and turn around. The mountain will still be there tomorrow but you may not.
Photograph above: Mount Rainier, an active volcano, is one of America's most dangerous mountains for climbers. Photograph © Sunset Avenue Productions/Getty Images
Comments
As a friend of the girlfriend who lost Mark, may I suggest that you consider your choice of words more carefully. No matter how much worse it could have been, when an outcome includes death, it can never be considered anything even close to wonderful!
I second that marja. Mark was a good friend and father. Try explaining to his five year old son how “wonderful” it is.
Agreed. That was pretty callous, and not something I’d expect from a fellow climber.
I agree. No one close to him and his family will ever totally recover from this tragedy. Many of us are grieving from the loss of Mark’s life. The outcome was NOT wonderful – it has been sadness of unfathomable proportions for his loved ones left behind.
I think what he means is, if the others had been up there first before Mark, theyre would have been several people missing and buried. Hope thats a small consolation for you.
I feel very sorry for your loss. Mark looks like he was an incredible, exceptional individual.
But calling something by any means ‘wonderful’ in the same sentence or paragraph is insensitive as it is wrong.
Sorry for your loss. Take care.
Agreed. I apologize for my word choice. Any loss of a fellow climber is a tragedy and I sincerely didn’t mean any disrespect to Mark or his friends and family. I’ve had many friends die in the mountains and I know the hurt and senselessness of it all. As the last comment indicates, the tragedy could have been much much worse with eleven climbers taken.
Damn, after every article I read about this, I still don’t want to believe this. Just like When he was caught up in the jungle, I thought the worst. Hopefully he is now off on another adventure somewhere doin’ what he loves. I wished I could of kicked it with you you more time homie. Damn, this blows my mind.
It’s almost impossible to write an article about a tragedy like this without offending somebody. It’s so painful for the family, friends, and fellow mountaineers left behind, nerves are raw… I’ve lost friends in climbing accidents – including one in an avalanche – and I don’t think anything anyone could have said would have been what I wanted to hear. I just wanted my friend back. I didn’t know Mark, but if he’s like most mountaineers I know, he’d want us to honor his life in the same spirit in which he lived it: with loving care and respect for the outdoors, and for each other. We’re all in this together. Peace.
I just watched marc w. on locked up abroad and was amazed at his bravery and stamina to survive that ordeal.I watched th whole thing thinking he was alive only to read at the end he died in this horrible acccient. I was stunned. I saw the look in his eyes when he talked about the others who had died in his place and he looked pained by it. He was probably haunted by it for the rest of his life. Now he is in peace. He seemed fated to live his life in his way. He has touched many strangers in his short life. God bless him and his family
I too just watched the episode of Locked Up Abroad featuring Mark W. and was very shocked to learn of his death on Mt. Rainer. May he rest in peace!
What a surreal hour of my life;
I watch locked up abroad, learn of his death at the end, become intrigued and curious by it, go online afterwards and look up a few different articles on the event until I come across this one, read all the comments and then read the last two and realize that I would have written exactly what Karen wrote and then read the one by Kevin which is my name too.
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Not trying to make this about me but I can’t believe the coincidence here . . . . . . but what I really wanted to say is that I wouldn’t have bothered to look him up at all if it weren’t for the light in him which the program brought out so very well. He seems like someone I would want to be friends with, seems so real and caring and honest and genuine.
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But his age… (and not to be rude or mock him in any way) his age…27……almost makes me feel like he deserves some place among the others in the 27 Club…even though it was just for musicians….he seems more than good enough for it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27_Club
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May the universe reincarnate the positive vibrant energy of his spirit to the next worthy soul to be born. Rest in peace, comrade.
What I think is amazing is he dies doing what he enjoyed to do in life! Rest in peace Mark!
@kevin, he was 29, this article reported his age incorrectly
I did not know Mark but God rest his soul and my prayers and heart goes out to his family and friends.
I just watched NatGeo and this is the Mark that thought it would be a good idea to hike from Panama, into Colombia, and right through FARC territory — not smart. Several Panamanians, including a tribal elder, were murdered by a paramilitary group as a result of his selfish desire to live on the edge and endanger the lives of others in the process.
Dear Tomcatt….your comment is not 100% accurate. You cannot blame the death of the tribal chief and his son (being left for dead) on only Mark. Even if they were lead back to the village by Victor, it was their choice to murder the innocent. True, decisions were made and people were killed but each of us has our own choices in this life and no one ‘makes’ us do anything…..there are always choices. It is saddening to hear of death whether by accident or by the hand of others, but we all make decisions and there are consequences to all decisions we make…good and bad.
I, too, finished watching locked up abroad featuring Mark. As a fellow Colombian raised in the states I felt a connection with his story as he tried to get back to his roots. I was so relieved everything ended up well for the 3 travelers but later in dismay at the end of the show discovering his passing. It’s just sad, very sad. My best wishes and hopes to his friends, family and child. He seemed like he was a genuine good human being.
After viewing LUA and reading ending info on Mark my heart broke. I am an avid viewer of LUA, but, in this case, had no idea how peripherally connected one may be to the main character, Mark. My husband and two sons hiked Ranier on the June 30 hike. Myself, being a non-hiker and worrier – I was well aware of the avalanche involving Mark, as yet unidentified, and his event even precipitated a call to RMI with questions about avalanche conditions in late June. I send all my heartfelt sympathies to Mark’s family and friends. Nature is intoxicating, powerful, and unfortunately at times unforgiving. May all Mark’s joyous moments stay forever young.
@age
Yes, I did read he was 29 in another article but disregarded it as being the false age, I guess nevermind the whole 27 thing I wrote. But he truly and quite literally DID live fast and die young, a romanticism we all, at times, are drawn to, but to very few of us it is a life are brave enough to fulfill. And I love that he did not have a traditional ceremonial service, it fits so well! So again, may his spirit live forever more alongside the ninety-five other fallen adventurers.
Rest in peace my friend.
So very sad. Mark sounds like an amazing young man. The loss of every climber diminishes all of us. Rest in peace Mark, and see you on the other side of the mountain…
Just watched the Locked Up Abroad on Mark. I had a friend who was killed in an avalanche in February while skiing the southeast face of the Tetons, and it is truly sad to see such an adventurous and free spirit such as Mark killed in the same way. Wray also died doing what he absolutely loved, and this story hit home – Wray was just 30 years old. I am now 32, but lived for many years in Seattle, and wish I’d had a chance to meet Mark. I am sorry for the tragic loss and wish the best to his young son and Girlfriend. He should be remembered as a truly inspirational man, even to those who did not get the chance to know him.
I just watched locked abroad and he seems like a great person.
That said he certainly did not listen to other people ( and use common sense) when he was warned about traveling down there which easily could have easily got him killed along with his traveling companions (he was vextremily lucky to get out alive). Then he goes moutain climbing after being warned about very dangerous avalanche conditions on one of the biggest mountains in the U.S . It was a matter of time before he got himself killed with his idealistic attitude which kept him from seeing reality and the dangers that it reveals.
RIP