Fantastic finish
Ursine understanding
Liberty Bell track exceeds expectations at state meet
Study looks at how bears, people can get along
SPORTS Page B1
STORY Page A7
Methow Valley News
PUBLISHED WEEKLY SINCE 1903
T WISP, WASHINGTON
VOL . 121 NO. 5
W W W.METHOW VALLEYNEWS.COM
MAY 29, 2024
$1.50
Eight climbers rescued in overnight effort Teams endured bad weather on popular Goat Wall route BY MARCY STAMPER
Eight people were safely rescued from Goat Wall in cold and snowy weather last week by search-and rescue volunteers, professional climbing guides, and two specialized high-angle teams. The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office got a call at about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, that the eight adults were lost and stranded on the Prime Rib climbing route and weren’t able to descend. The popular route is about 3 miles west of Mazama. It was 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday (May 22) before all eight were safely rescued, Okanogan County Search and Rescue Coordinator (OCSAR) Rick Balam said. After he got the call from dispatch, Balam asked Zach Winters, an experienced climber and OCSAR volunteer, to call the stranded climbers to determine where they were and if it would be possible to coach them to descend on their own. It soon became clear that descending on their own was not an option, Balam said. The stranded climbers, a group of men and women aged about 30 to 50 from Illinois and Indiana, were not experienced and “should never have been up there,” Balam said. None had ever done
Photo courtesy of David Gottula
Dozens of rescuers — search and rescue volunteers, professional climbing guides and a ranger district fire crew — carried out a carefully coordinated plan to safely rescue the eight stranded climbers from Goat Wall in cold, snowy weather. a multi-pitch climb before, Winters said. The group had been researching the Prime Rib route for a year and thought it would take seven hours to complete. The climbers started up the cliff at
about 7:30 in the morning on Tuesday and were straining all day to complete the route, Balam said. Winters was able to phone the climbers, who’d called 911 from a precarious
Part of Big Valley area is again closed to protect breeding sandhill cranes Birds return for fourth year to ideal habitat
spot on a ledge between pitches 7 and 8 on the 11-pitch route — although they thought they had reached the top, Winters said. Winters, who’s climbed the route some 20 times, figured out where
the climbers were and directed the group to a safer spot, where they were fortunate to find a small cave that provided some protection from the weather, he said. Balam assembled a team of volunteer rescuers including OCSAR’s skilled high-angle team; a drone operator; professional climbing guides with North Cascades Mountain Guides (NCMG); and Chelan County Mountain Rescue, another high-angle team. He also contacted Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, which often assists in helicopter rescues, but the weather made that impossible, Balam said. Winters was one of three initial response teams that arrived around midnight. Two teams drove up Goat Peak Road, where they were able to walk a trail that connects to the top of the Prime Rib climb. Balam, a drone operator and another volunteer deployed to the base of Goat Wall on Lost River Road. The climbers had left a car at the top of the route, planning to hike out when they finished their ascent. The rescue teams on Goat Peak Road ferried ropes, warm clothing, blankets and food to the top of the Prime Rib route. Most of the waylaid climbers had just their climbing clothing, although a few had brought jackets or warm layers, Winters said. Working in the dark, Winters and two other rescuers descended some 600 feet from the top of the route to bring the clothing and food to the climbers.
See CLIMBERS, A2
A DAY OF APPRECIATION
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Big Valley Unit Community Trail Closure Map
BY MARCY STAMPER HWY 20
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Trailhead
Big Valley Unit
Photo by Don Nelson
American Legion Auxiliary Unit No. 120 again hosted a Memorial Day remembrance at Sullivan Cemetery in Winthrop, where friends and family gathered to reflect on the sacrifices made by those in the military.
HWY 20
State, federal agencies collaborate on regional prescribed fire plans
AREA CLOSED
Segment of Loop Trail CLOSED
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Aim is to increase public safety and smoke readiness
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There are only about 40 breeding pairs of sandhill cranes in Washington, and one of those pairs has found suitable nesting habitat at the Big Valley Wildlife Area near Mazama for four years in a row, successfully fledging three offspring. To protect the birds, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is closing part of the Big Valley area through the end of September. Cranes typically lay two eggs and their young — called colts — are expected to hatch any day now, WDFW Communication Specialist Nicole Jordan said. Last season, two colts fully fledged and are assumed to have migrated with the parents. In 2022, two colts hatched and one died, but the other one is assumed to have migrated — the firstknown instance of cranes successfully rearing their young in the Methow, Jordan said. Cranes were first seen nesting near Big Valley in 2021, the first instance of adult nesting cranes in the valley. While two colts hatched that year, neither survived. The cause is unknown, but biologists believe it was most likely predation. The large birds are primarily gray, with a red cap. The crane’s wingspan is more than 6 feet. Cranes build their nests on the ground. It takes a month for eggs to hatch and at least two months for the colts to become independent. In the fall, the juveniles migrate south with their parents. Cranes need space to breed successfully. They are extremely wary of people and other animals, and disturbance from humans can cause cranes to abandon their nests, risking predation
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BY SANDRA STRIEBY
1 Miles Source: Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics, and the GIS User Community
Map courtesy of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Part of the Big Valley loop is closed through the end of September to protect a pair of nesting sandhill cranes and their young. The Methow cranes are one of only 40 breeding pairs of the endangered bird in Washington. of their eggs or colts. Sandhill cranes often mate for life and the pair share the responsibility for guarding the nest and foraging for food.
Promising for recovery
The Big Valley Wildlife Area offers ideal nesting habitat, with shallow wetlands and emergent vegetation, as
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well as adjacent agricultural fields for foraging (the fields are managed by WDFW). The return of the cranes for a fourth year is rare and is promising for the species’ recovery in the state, WDFW said. WDFW assumes it is the same nesting pair that has returned
See CRANES, A2
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Federal and state agencies in Washington and Oregon are collaborating on two pilot projects intended to reduce the impacts of wildfire by increasing prescribed burning while minimizing the public health impacts of smoke exposure. The initiative is meant to address the “escalating wildfire crisis” in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, according to a joint media statement from the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). Currently, other partners include the Washington State Department of
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Health, Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of Forestry, and Oregon Health Authority. The group is “continuing to expand to include additional collaborators,” according to a Forest Service FAQ. Tribes are among those being engaged, according to the FAQ. The collaborating agencies are conducting the first pilot project near Bend, Oregon, this year. The second project is planned for 2025 in north central Washington. The site has not been identified. “We’re working with the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and beyond that … the actual project location is to be determined,” said Deana Wall, who works in Fire, Fuels and Aviation Management for the Forest Service.
See FIRE, A3
INSIDE ...
OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 HARTS PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2 COMMUNIT Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7 VALLEY LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8