Local Climbers Rescued From Mount Rainier After Being Stranded For Days In Strong Winds
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Four climbers were rescued from Mount Rainier yesterday in Washington, and three of them are from our area.
As CBS2's Marc Liverman reports, two of the men are from New York, a third lives in Jersey City and the fourth is from Oregon.
Four climbers who set out on a three day climb on Mount Ranier in Washington came dangerously close to losing their lives. This after repeated failed rescue attempts in harrowing winds.
"There were moments when there were breakdowns. There were moments when there were panic attacks all throughout with each and every one," climber Yev Krasnitsky, of Portland, said. "We kind of just had to be there for each other to pull each other out."
The climbers struggled with little food, water and supplies. They spent nearly four days at more than 13,000 feet waiting to be rescued.
"Really high winds breaking the tent, ripping the tent. We're trying to hold onto the tent, trying to hold onto everything," said Krasnitsky.
The group survived huge chunks of falling ice. All four hikers suffered from frostbite and cold exposure.
"During the night, it was really windy and really snowy," Krasnitsky said.
They were spotted by a reconnaissance helicopter Monday, but it was too windy for a rescue. It wasn't until Thursday when a chopper was finally able to land.
"Everybody just saying we're not going to be able to do this – the helicopter arrives and it just lands right behind us," said Krasnitsky.
"They sustained both exposure injuries and some blunt trauma from objects actually hitting them while they were there for days," Dr. M. Kennedy Hall told reporters.
The area where the men were rescued is the same one where a hiker was killed and two others were injured after getting caught in a rock fall a little more than a week ago.
Park officials said because the climbers were able to move to a rescue site, which required expert and technical climbing, they greatly contributed to their own rescue.
