2 Climbers Lost in Avalanche in Washington

An avalanche buried four climbers on Mt. Baker on Sunday, and rescuers freed two victims but suspended a search for the others for fear of triggering another slide of ice and snow.

The avalanche brought “big chunks of ice the size of cars coming down on us,” one of the survivors, Kurt A. Petellin, 21, of Enumclaw said at St. Luke’s General Hospital, where he was treated and released. “As I was rolling down, I said: ‘God, don’t let me go under. Let me go up. There’s no way if I’m buried.’ ”

Weekend temperatures as high as 86 degrees probably triggered the avalanche at the 8,000-foot level of the Roman Wall, said Kevin Kennedy, spokesman for the Glacier Public Service Center on the northwest Washington peak.

“It probably was just a whole side of the mountain that came down,” said Dave Jenkins, acting Whatcom County director of emergency services.

Search Will Resume

The other survivor, Thomas W. Waller, 19, of Enumclaw, was in serious condition in the hospital. Crews looking for a third climber and the group’s guide used helicopters and a dog specially trained to hunt for avalanche victims, but halted their search at 3 p.m., with plans to resume it today.

The chances of survival of the missing pair are “slim at this point,” Jenkins said.

Waller and Petellin were found by a recreational hiking group from the North Vancouver, Canada, mountain rescue team that had been climbing nearby and heard the avalanche break loose, authorities said.

Petellin identified the third climber as Steve Raschick, 21, of Enumclaw, and the guide only as Ian of a Bellingham group called Summit Mountaineering.

Petellin said he was swept about 100 feet down the mountainside and another 75 feet down a crevasse. He said he “was shivering violently” when he was first found.