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Three climbers have been killed in an avalanche after the lead climber accidentally triggered it while attempting to reach the peak of an 8,705 foot mountain over the weekend.
The incident occurred on Sunday when a group of six climbers — all from the East Coast — were attempting to climb Colchuck Peak which sits at the south end of Colchuck Lake, approximately 8 miles south of Leavenworth, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest.
“The lead climber triggered an avalanche while attempting to climb the Northeast Couloir of Colchuck Peak,” officials from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office in a statement following the tragedy.
Four of the climbers were swept approximately 500 feet down the mountain during the avalanche that ended up killing three of them. The fourth climber, a 56-year-old man from New York, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was able to hike back to base camp with the two remaining survivors, a 50-year-old man from New York and a 36-year-old man from New Jersey.
When they finally arrived at camp, they sent a seventh member who did not venture out climbing for the day — a 53-year-old Maryland man — to go get help.
