Mount Rainier lead climbing ranger Charlie Borgh, 26, was killed in an avalanche while descending Mount Deltaform in British Columbia last week. His climbing partner, Gabe Coler, 24, broke both legs in the accident and survived for three nights before being rescued on Sunday.
The two men had climbed the popular Supercouloir (IV 5.8) mixed route on the north face of 11,231-foot Deltaform and had just started descending the eastern aspect of the peak when an avalanche carried them down the face. They fell an estimated 3,000 feet. Borgh was killed in the fall. Coler was partially buried, but dug himself out and managed to keep warm enough to survive three nights despite losing his hat, gloves and pack in the tumble. A friend reported the two missing on Sunday morning, two and a half days after the fall, and park wardens quickly located their car and then spotted the victim by helicopter and evacuated him.
