Wedding party blown off mountain
Difficult conditions spoil wedding plans, but other climbers not so lucky
A couple's plans to wed at the top of Mount Rainier, Washington state, were abruptly cut short when they and their minister were blown off the mountain and into a crevasse by high winds. They were still 2,500 metres from the summit where their guide, who was also a licensed minister, was to conduct the ceremony.
Charles Grubbs and Melody Wyman said they had wanted to tie the knot "on top of the most beautiful cathedral in the world." But after they were airlifted from the crevasse they ended up marrying at St. Joseph's medical centre with the assistance of the hospital chaplain, and crutches.
There have been a spate of accidents on Mount Rainier recently and sadly on the same day as this incident two other climbers were killed. Benjamin Hernstedt (25) and Jeffrey Depuis (21) were attempting a rapid ascent of the mountain but as the first rescue operation was under way the rescuers found their empty tent. A search culminated in discovery of their bodies, roped together at the bottom of a 100-foot wall of ice at 12,500 feet.
Their deaths marked the second fatal accident in two weeks on Rainier, three people died May 29 after being trapped in a fierce storm.
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