Three Dead, One Seriously Injured In Okanogan County Climbing Accident

Three men are dead and another has serious injuries after a rock climbing accident in remote Okanogan County.

The Okanogan County Sheriff's Office says it happened Saturday evening in the area of North Early Winters Spire just off State Route 20 about 16 miles west of Mazama.

Undersheriff Dave Yarnell says the party of four climbers, who were all from Renton and Bellevue with original nationalities of East Indian, Asian and Ukrainian, were descending a steep gully when a critical section of their climbing apparatus failed.

"We're still waiting on an inspection of each climber's individual climbing gear which is being done by certified climbing experts. So we'll know a little bit more about the type of gear they were using and whether or not it was appropriate for the circumstances later on. But for now, investigators were only able to confirm that the anchor point that all of the climbers were tied on to, failed."

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All four of the climbers fell about 200 feet vertically down the face of the spires before skidding another 200 feet down a rocky, snow-covered chute.

Three of the climbers were killed, while one suffered serious injuries but was able to self-extricate and call for help on Sunday at around 11:30 a.m.

"He actually made it back to the trailhead and drove to Newhalem, where he used a payphone to call emergency services," explained Yarnell. "A State Parks unit made contact with him and determined that he had sustained some substantial injuries in the fall, so they transported him to a hospital. He was disoriented and had some internal bleeding going on and possibly a traumatic brain injury. I do know that there was also an issue with a language barrier between him and the crews that evaluated him."

A helicopter rescue team from Snohomish County was called in to assist with removing the deceased climbers from the austere terrain.

Sheriff's officials say there's still many parts to the investigation that are ongoing and the names of the deceased climbers are being withheld at this time.

Yarnell says the location where the accident occurred is popular with climbers but accidents have been rare over the years there.