Now that things have settled down and everyone's returned home, I'll chime in too.
The two climbers ascended the North Face of Chair Peak, but found snow conditions much looser than reported by teams over the weekend, slowing them down markedly. But both were very experienced climbers and familiar with Snoqualmie Pass, and felt ok finishing the descent in the dark.
What they hadn't counted on is the increasing winds managing to move snow that day, creating a windslab pocket high in Chair Peak basin. While descending the upper slopes, after rapelling from the ridge, one triggered this windslab at approximately 5750' elevation and was carried 500' downslope. He suffered a fractured wrist, ankle, and foot. His partner managed to splint his injuries and drag him a further 250' to the flats immediately uphill from the Thumbtack.
911 was called immediately, as well as a phone call to friends. Variable winds in the basin prevented a helicopter evacuation. Three of us were able to rally and respond, arriving with the SMR hasty team and assisting with the evacuation. The injured climber was evacuated and taken by ambulance to Harborview, where he had two surgeries and was released on Saturday. A full, albeit long, recovery is expected.
I want to give a huge thanks and shout-out to Erik and Patrick, the two volly ski patrollers who responded to and accident; and to SMR and ESAR, who did an impressive job. I was particularly impressed with how quickly SMR responded, how well they managed the rescue, and utilized their resources (especially the three of us friends and ESAR). The uninjured partner did a fantastic job splinting and keeping his injured partner stable while waiting for rescue.
For the snow scientists, winds picked up from calm to 25mph in the morning, and the temperature inversion allowed the moved snow to create a cohesive slab quickly of DF. The bed surface was the MF layer that will plaque us for some time, possibly with a very small weak interface of FC on top of the exposed MF. The crown was 60m, averaging 15cm; the right flank was indistinct; the left flank averaged 25cm high, and descended 200' elevation down-slope. The total slide length was 600' elevation. Slope angle at the crown was 40deg, the majority of the slidepath was 35deg. Slides during the previous storm cycle exposed the MF and created a hardened surface to allow the slide to travel further than possibly in other conditions.
This will be reposted over at cc.com as well. Feel free to ask me any questions in public or by message.
