Three climbers died in Washington state when an anchor apparently failed as they were descending in a steep gulley Sunday, the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said.
A fourth member of the climbing party in the North Early Winters Spire area survived and called authorities after the accident around 11:30 a.m., it said.
The group was rappelling, which is when an anchored line is used to descend on a very steep or vertical face, with the line used to slow the descent, the sheriff’s office said.
“The presumed cause of the accident is an anchor failure while rappelling, with more investigation still ongoing,” the sheriff’s office said.
The names of the climbers were not released, but the sheriff’s office said they were 36, 47, and 63 years old and from Renton, a city just southeast of Seattle.
The bodies of the three climbers have been recovered, the sheriff's office said.
“Our thoughts are with the family members and friends of those involved,” the sheriff’s office said.
The Early Winters Spires are two peaks — around 7,800 feet each —in the Northern Cascades. The north spire is the slightly shorter one, with a peak of around 7,760 feet.
