On August 13, 1995, two National Park Service workers, including a park ranger, are killed on Mount Rainier while attempting to rescue an injured climber on upper Emmons Glacier. It is the first time in the history of Mount Rainier National Park (est. 1899) that a ranger is killed in the line of duty. Just one week later, another deadly accident occurs on the mountain close to the location where the rescuers died. On August 20, 1995, a three-man climbing party is descending from the summit of Mount Rainier. While traversing Emmons Glacier, they slip on the treacherous ice and tumble 2,400 feet down the mountainside before colliding with a snow bridge across a deep crevasse. The event is witnessed by a park volunteer monitoring the activity on the mountaintop from Steamboat Prow with field glasses. Two park rangers, airlifted to the scene, discover that two of the climbers are dead and the third is alive, but critically injured.
Death on Winthrop Glacier
On Sunday morning, August 13, 1995, two National Park Service (NPS) workers, Philip J. Otis, age 22, and Sean H. Ryan, 23, were killed on Mount Rainier (14,411 feet) while trying to save an injured climber on upper Emmons Glacier. John Gravier, 40, had been descending from the summit with two friends when he slipped on the glacial ice, fell 60 feet and broke his ankle. Otis, a student conservation worker, and Ryan, a summer ranger, had been dispatched from Camp Schurman at Steamboat Prow (9,702 feet) with a first-aid kit to stabilize the injury prior to an evacuation by helicopter. Just 200 feet below where Gravier was laying, Otis lost his footing on the glare ice and he and Ryan, roped together, plunged 1,300 feet down the mountainside to their deaths. Gravier was rescued shortly afterward by another ranger team carrying a litter and equipment to facilitate the airlift. It was the first time in the history of Mount Rainier National Park that a National Park Service Ranger had been killed in the line of duty.
Just one week later, another deadly mishap occurred on Mount Rainier close to the place where Otis and Ryan slipped and fell to their deaths. On Sunday afternoon, August 20, 1995, three novice climbers, Scott J. Porter, age 32, Karl M. Ahrens, 35, and Brian Nelson, 32, were descending from the mountain's summit. At approximately 2 p.m., at an altitude of 13,400 feet, one of the climbers lost his footing on the glare ice and the trio, roped together, plummeted 2,400 feet down Emmons Glacier and collided with a snow bridge across a huge crevasse.
By happenstance, a park volunteer at Camp Schurman (9,700 feet) had been monitoring the activity on the mountaintop with field glasses and witnessed the accident. A mountain rescue helicopter transported two NPS Rangers to the scene with first-aid kits. They found Ahrens and Porter had been killed outright by the fall, but Nelson was still alive, although critically injured. He was airlifted to Sunrise, located in the northeast section of the park. They were met by an Army helicopter that flew him to the Madigan Army Medical Center, 13 miles south of Tacoma, for emergency medical care. Nelson, unconscious, was listed in critical condition, having suffered a devastating head injury.
The bodies of Ahrens and Porter were transported to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office in Tacoma for postmortems. The following day, Nelson was transferred to the intensive-care unit at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, in a coma and in critical condition but stable. Several days afterward, he was transferred to Harborview Medical Center and then Highline Medical Center in Burien for intensive care, eventually being placed at the University Place Care Center in Tacoma, specializing in long-term recovery cases.
According to Jeffery Lippens, a close friend who had accompanied them on the Mount Rainier climb, they spent Saturday night at Camp Schurman, beginning their ascent to the peak at approximately 1:30 a.m. Before departing, they reviewed safety procedures and double-checked climbing gear. Two other climbers at the camp were looking for a third person to bolster their climbing team. Lippens volunteered and they split into two three-man groups. Before the final ascent to Columbia Crest, the teams paused in a snowfield on Emmons Glacier, approximately 500 feet below the peak, to assess obviously dangerous surface conditions. Then, they carefully continued onward.
After reaching the summit, the teams discussed using possible alternate routes for the descent. Lippens's team decided to retrace their path to the summit across Emmons Glacier and at approximately 10 a.m. began their descent. Nelson's team decided it was preferable to give the glacial ice time to soften in the noonday sun before starting down from the mountaintop at approximately 1 p.m.. Lippens said their climbing gear was almost useless, the surface being akin to walking barefoot across wet glass. Ice screws drilled into the glacier wouldn't hold and their climbing crampons couldn't effectively pierce the unusually hard surface. He saw one of Nelson's team fall, approximately 1,000 feet below the peak, dragging down the other two climbers roped together. Their efforts to arrest the deadly slide with ice axes and crampons proved fruitless. The cost of the high adventure was two friends dead and one suffering a life-changing injury.
Following memorial services, Karl Ahrens was buried at Sunset Hills Memorial Park in Bellevue and Scott Porter was interred at Cedar Lawns Memorial Park in Redmond. The remains of Philip Otis were buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ranger Sean Ryan was cremated with a portion of his ashes scattered upon Mount Rainier and the remainder inurned at Indian Hill Episcopal Presbyterian Churchyard in Cincinnati, Ohio.
According to data compiled by the National Park Service as of 2022, more than 400 people had died in Mount Rainier National Park since government records were first kept. Approximately one quarter of those deaths occurred while climbing on the mountain.
Victims:
Scott Jon Porter (1962-1995)
Karl Marshall Ahrens (1960-1995)
Philip James Otis (1973-1995)
Sean Hunter Ryan (1972-1995)
