Hiker sacrificed self to save wife on Mt. Rainier

[chumley]

I'm torn between thinking the guy is a selfless hero and wondering what "experienced hikers" were doing above 10,000 feet in a blizzard. You'd think part of being "experienced" involves being aware of potential weather hazards ahead of time. But then again, weather up on the mountain is often very different from anything that is forecast. Sad story.

Hiker sacrificed self to save wife on Mtn. Rainier

Jun. 13, 2008 06:06 AM
Associated Press

SEATTLE - A hiker who lost his life high on Mount Rainier lay down in the snow and used his body's warmth to save his wife and a friend from the 70-mph winds of a freak June blizzard, national park officials say.

When it became obvious the trio of friends could not find their way back to base camp in whiteout conditions, they dug a snow trench with their hands. Then 31-year-old Eduard Burceag lay down on the snow and his wife and a friend lay on top of him. Later, when they begged him to switch places, Burceag refused, saying he was OK.

"In doing so, he probably saved their lives," park spokesman Kevin Bacher said Thursday.

Mariana Burceag, also 31, survived the storm, as did the couple's good friend, Daniel Vlad, 34.

Eduard Burceag was just one of the heroes.

When the call came at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday to the Camp Muir base camp, saying three hikers were missing in a blizzard, the National Park Service ranger in charge of rescue operations had little hope they would survive the night.

Kevin Hammonds, 28, described the storm as the worst he had ever seen during his years of hiking and mountain climbing: wind blowing hard enough to knock you off your feet, zero visibility making it impossible to see your hand in front of your face.

"The fact that any of them made it is noteworthy," Hammonds said Thursday.

His lack of optimism didn't stop Hammonds and a fellow ranger, Joe Franklin, from readying a search party to go at first light.

At about 5:30 a.m., Franklin was checking the horizon for any clues to the location of the missing hikers, all natives of Romania, but living in Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle.

He saw what looked like a boulder in an unusual spot on the snowfield, then took a closer look with binoculars and realized the shape was moving.

Hammonds grabbed two mountain guides who had stayed the night at Camp Muir, at the 10,000 foot level of the 14,410-foot mountain, and headed out toward Vlad. Walking through knee-deep, blowing snow, it took about 10 minutes to meet him halfway.

Bacher called Vlad a hero as well, for his determination to do whatever it took to get help.

"It wasn't that he had the physical stamina to do it, but he had the mental will," Bacher said.

One of the guides helped Vlad back to Camp Muir after he directed Hammonds and Eben Reckord of International Mountain Guides toward Mariana and Eduard Burceag.

"We were able to, more or less, find them right away because he had given us such a good description," Hammonds said. "They would have actually been hard for us to find without his guidance. Where they were definitely was not in eyeshot of camp."

Mariana Burceag was conscious but not coherent, said Hammonds, whose training as an emergency medical technician is a requirement of the job.

When they turned to check her husband, they found Eduard Burceag unconscious; they couldn't find a pulse.

"The two of us had to make a decision that she needed our immediate attention," Hammonds said. "It was obvious to us, that ... if left there much longer, she would probably be in the same shape he was."

Hammonds' emergency training told him they had to focus on the person most likely to survive.

They put a second down jacket on Mariana Burceag, put her in a sleeping bag and onto a sleeping pad, covered her with a small tent and started to drag the whole package toward Camp Muir.

They only got about 100 feet closer to Camp Muir before Hammonds and Reckord realized they needed more help. Four more guides answered their call with oxygen, another sleeping bag and a real sled. It took another hour for six people to get Mariana Burceag to shelter.

Then the rescuers turned around in the still cold and snowy conditions and went back for Eduard Burceag. Perhaps another hour passed before he made it to shelter; attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Hammonds said the three were experienced hikers - both Eduard Burceag and Vlad had summited Rainier in the past - and were dressed properly for a spring hike in warm winter jackets, wool hats and gloves and good boots.

Thick clouds prevented a helicopter evacuation later Tuesday. An Army chopper airlifted Mariana Burceag and Vlad from the peak Wednesday morning. They were treated for frostbite at a Seattle hospital and released. Eduard Burceag's body was brought down the mountain on a sled Wednesday afternoon.

The Pierce County medical examiner's office confirmed Thursday night that he died of hypothermia.

Reached by telephone in Romania, Eduard Burceag's brother Cristian told The Seattle Times that his older brother moved to America eight years ago and fell in love with Seattle, its mountains, its opportunities.

"I can't find words about him," the younger Burceag said. "When he left for America he took his life in his hands and made a great career."

Eduard Burceag worked for Active Voice, a Seattle-based company that specializes in helping companies transition from voice mail to computer communications and messaging.

Cristian Burceag said his mother was visiting his brother and was watching their two young boys while Eduard and Mariana hiked to Camp Muir.

He said he was not surprised his brother died shielding his wife from the blizzard.

"He was a hero for us," he said. "I'm sure he would do that. He knew very well that his children needed a lot of their mother and that was the main thing in his life."

[chumley]

I just found another article on this that goes into much more detail for anybody familiar with hiking Mt. Rainier. Two feet of snow, 5 foot drifts, 70mph winds. Sounds brutal:

LONGMIRE, Wash. (AP) — A helicopter rescued two hikers from high on Mount Rainier Wednesday after they were caught in a freak June blizzard that caused a third hiker's death.

An Army Chinook helicopter rescued Mariana Burceag, 31, and Daniel Vlad, 34, at about 6:15 a.m. from Camp Muir, a staging area for climbers about 10,000 feet up the 14,410-foot volcano, authorities said.

Burceag's husband, Eduard Burceag, 31, died of exposure on the mountain, park spokeswoman Monica Magari said.

A helicopter from Fort Lewis flew the survivors off the mountain Wednesday morning and they were taken by ground transportation from Madigan Hospital at the Army base near Tacoma to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where they were treated for frostbite and released Wednesday afternoon.

"They're going to be OK," said Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson.

"They want to remain private ... just want to get through this the best they can," she said.

Eduard Burceag's body was being brought down the mountain by sled late Wednesday, Magari said.

Originally from Romania but living in the suburban Bellevue area, the three had been out for a day hike Monday to Camp Muir when they were caught in the storm that dumped 2 feet of snow.

All three were experienced climbers and two had reached the top of Mount Rainier before, national park spokesman Kevin Bacher said.

After a winter of heavy snowfall that forced repeated closure of mountain passes, unseasonably cold conditions have continued long into spring in Washington's Cascade Range.

Paradise, the jumping-off point for the trail to Camp Muir, received 2 feet of fresh snow over Monday night, with 5-foot drifts and 70 mph winds at Camp Muir, Bacher said.

"Nobody expects a blizzard in June," he said.

Rangers received a call at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday that three hikers had been trapped in the sudden blizzard on the Muir snowfield as they were descending.

The three apparently built a snow shelter at about 9,500 feet. The weather prevented an immediate rescue attempt after their call, Bacher said. The other male hiker left the married couple and battled through heavy snow to reach Camp Muir at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday and was able to direct rescuers to the other hikers near Anvil Rock, a large outcropping at the edge of the Muir snowfield.

The others were brought to a shelter at Camp Muir about an hour later, but the woman's husband was unconscious and later died, Bacher said. He suffered from hypothermia and frostbite.

Bacher said day hikers are not required to check in with park officials, and these hikers didn't. But he said it's a good idea any time of year to inquire about conditions on the mountain, where weather can turn deadly quickly.

"Be prepared for worse conditions than you expect," he said. "Be prepared to spend the night out."

The death was the first reported on the mountain this year. In December, a 22-year-old Lynnwood man, Kirk Reiser, was killed when he was swept up in a snowslide while on a day hike on snowshoes.

Bacher said 48 people spent Tuesday night at Camp Muir. Some had planned to sleep there and others had to because of the weather.

[chumley]

Further research shows that they either didn't check the forecast, or made a stupid decision. NWS Seattle had issued a Warning.

It would be like deciding to summit Humphrey's during a storm where it was snowing in Prescott, Payson ... even Carefree and North Scottsdale!

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
454 PM PDT MON JUN 9 2008

WAZ513-518-519-100800-
/O.CON.KSEW.HS.W.0007.080610T0100Z-080610T1500Z/
OLYMPICS-WEST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES AND PASSES-
WEST SLOPES CENTRAL CASCADES AND PASSES-
454 PM PDT MON JUN 9 2008

...HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM PDT TUESDAY
FOR THE OLYMPICS AND NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CASCADES ABOVE 3500
FEET...

A HEAVY SNOW WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM TUESDAY.

A STRONG...LATE SPRING STORM SYSTEM WILL DUMP 5 TO 10 INCHES
OF WET SNOW ABOVE THE 3500 FOOT LEVEL TONIGHT...WITH LOCAL
AMOUNTS NEAR A FOOT ON THE HIGHER WEST FACING SLOPES. THE SNOW
LEVEL WAS NEAR 5500 FEET THIS AFTERNOON BUT WILL PLUMMET TO
NEAR 2500 FEET OVERNIGHT AS A COLDER AIR MASS INVADES THE
REGION.

[DarthStiller]

I hiked up in that area 7 (??!!) years ago in August. Even in August there's snow above 6000'. The trails fade away at about 7000'-8000' and then you go across the Muir Snowfield up to Camp Muir. If they went past the trails, they weren't paying attention because snowshoes are recommended once you get to that point. Sounds like a combination of factors, probably all brought on by inexperience.

[PaleoRob]

I hiked up in that area 7 (??!!) years ago in August. Even in August there's snow above 6000'. The trails fade away at about 7000'-8000' and then you go across the Muir Snowfield up to Camp Muir. If they went past the trails, they weren't paying attention because snowshoes are recommended once you get to that point. Sounds like a combination of factors, probably all brought on by inexperience.

All three were experienced climbers and two had reached the top of Mount Rainier before

If this is true, then they should have known about the conditions up top as you describe. Hmm...

[djui5]

So sad. Why didn't the friend lay on the ground? I guess it's easy to ask questions now, but when you're there the thought process was probably a lot different I'm sure.