Climber still missing after avalanche

DENALI PARK - A climber from Trapper Creek was still missing late Thursday morning, two days after he was lost in an avalanche on Mount Huntington in Denali National Park & Preserve.

The missing climber, Johnny Soderstrom, 26, of Trapper Creek, was last seen by his partner, Joe Reichert of Talkeetna, between 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Tuesday, as he and Reichert approached the West Face Couloir route on Mount Huntington, a 12,240-foot peak situated just south of Mount McKinley.

Soderstrom was skiing ahead of Reichert as the two ascended the peak near its 8,800-foot level. Reichert saw Soderstrom reach a bench, or relatively flat portion of the route, and then Soderstrom skied out of view.

When Reichert reached the same bench, he was unable to see or hear Soderstrom. Although Reichert did not see an avalanche occur, debris covered the area. After probing for more than three hours, Reichert descended to their base camp at 8,000 feet and used a satellite phone to call the Talkeetna Ranger Station staff, at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Avalanche danger and heavy snow have kept the National Park Service from being able to launch a ground search and rescue attempt, according to park spokeswoman Maureen McLaughlin.

An Alaska State Trooper helicopter was scheduled to take a trooper and an avalanche expert, Blaine Smith of the Alaska Mountain Safety Center, up to the avalanche site Thursday morning, to determine if a ground search was possible. The chances of an immediate ground search, however, do not look favorable.

"Newer snow and the lay of the terrain makes it difficult," McLaughlin said. "All the landing areas and approaches are perilous."

Poor visibility and weather conditions also precluded a rescue effort Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday morning, Alaska's Rescue Coordination Center launched a military C-130 aircraft and a Pavehawk helicopter, both operated by the Air National Guard 210th Pararescue Unit, at approximately 9:30 a.m., out of Kulis Air National Guard Base in Anchorage.

The Pavehawk helicopter, with three pararescuers on board, flew to the team's camp and picked up Reichert.

After an initial aerial search of the avalanche area, the Pavehawk returned to Talkeetna. A smaller, more maneuverable B-3 helicopter, piloted by Alaska State Trooper pilot Mel Nading, flew back to the incident site with mountaineering ranger Gordy Kito and Blaine Smith, for further aerial searching and to make an avalanche risk assessment.

Based on the assessment, the search zone was determined to be confined to an area smaller than the size of a football field. Most of the debris had collected in a large crevasse at the bottom of the slide path. Smith and Kito determined that the area probed by Reichert immediately following the accident was the most likely location of the missing climber.

The avalanche slide path subsequently reloaded with new snow that fell throughout the day Tuesday. Avalanche concerns and inadequate rotor clearance precluded a helicopter landing at the immediate site, and approaches from safer landing zones were also considered heavily avalanche prone.

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266, or joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.