The Strange Disappearance of Eric Lewis on Mount Rainier
Eric Lewis, Disappeared July 1, 2010, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington state.
Revised September 2024
Eric Lewis, 57, of Duvall, Washington, was reported missing near the top of Mt. Rainier while mountain climbing on Thursday, July 1, 2010. He disappeared when his climbing companions discovered that he had unclipped from the climbing rope and disappeared, leaving them to pull up a coil with a butterfly knot. Eric had vanished, and after a large search, only his pack showed up in a snow cave. His body has never been located. Was Eric spooked by something or someone? Was foul play a factor, or did his gear fail? What happened on Mount Rainier in the summer of 2010?
Where is Mount Rainier?
Mount Rainier, also known as Tahoma or Tacoma Peak is 14,411 ft (4,392 m) high and it is located in Washington - about 59 miles (95 km) south-southeast of Seattle and north-east of Portland, Oregon.
It is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park It is the highest mountain in the state of Washington and the Cascade Range. Due to its high probability of eruption in the near future, Mount Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
Mount Rainier
The climb on Gibralter Ledges and the Eric Lewis disappearance
Eric vanished when he became inexplicably separated from his two climbing companions when the three-man team ascended the Gibraltar Ledges route on Mt. Rainier and encountered high winds and low visibility.
The Gibralter Ledges was the first route to the summit of Mt. Rainier. It was climbed by Hazard Stevens and Philemon Beecher Van Trump in 1870 and is now considered the "standard" winter route on the mountain.
Don Storm, Jr., the climber in the lead on the Ledges route, stopped and was joined by the second climber on the rope, Trevor Lane. At 13,900 feet, as they waited for Eric to join them, they discovered only a coil with a butterfly knot when they pulled the rope in. They had caught glimpses of him on the rope just moments before and immediately searched the slope below them. After thoroughly combing the area for any clues, they proceeded to the summit ridge in case Eric had somehow skirted around them while they searched below. When he was not found on the summit ridge, they returned to Camp Muir, the climbing high camp at 10,200 feet, and reported the incident to rangers.
The search for Eric Lewis on Mt. Rainier
A team of climbers searched the Nisqually Ice Fall and Gibraltar Chute areas, and a Chinook helicopter flew climbing areas where Eric could have ended up. Climbing ranger Tom Payne and two mountain guides climbed to the summit looking for Eric late on the day of his disappearance. The day after, the search expanded, with more than 40 people involved. Ground searchers included National Park Service climbing rangers, climbing guides from Rainier Mountaineering Inc. and Alpine Ascents International and volunteers from Olympic Mountain Rescue.
Park rangers aboard a military Chinook helicopter from Fort Lewis and a commercial helicopter from Northwest Helicopters searched from the air.
Searchers located Eric's backpack, climbing harness, and snow shovel at 13,600 feet and a small snow cave at 13,800 feet. He had no sleeping bag, tent, food, or down jacket.
Incident Commander Glenn Kessler said at the time, "The search area is high-elevation glacial terrain and demands a high level of technical skill. The odds of finding the missing climber alive must be weighed against the risk to searchers operating in such hazardous conditions. We've thoroughly searched the areas where we were likely to find Eric Lewis and believe it's now time to scale back. Normal patrols of the mountain with a vigilant eye toward finding clues pertaining to the missing climber will continue."
What happened to Eric Lewis?
Fellow climbers Don Storm and Trevor Lan searched thoroughly for Eric and retraced their movements. According to their accounts, anyway.
In his book and later film “Touching the Void” Joe Simpson wrote about how his climbing companion, Simon Yates, cut his rope during a climb on the west face of Siula Grande in the Huayhuash mountain range in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. On the descent, an accident resulted in Simpson falling over a cliff while roped to Yates, who was forced to cut the rope to avoid both climbers falling. Simpson survived after crawling out of a snow cave with broken bones and unable to work. It was a miraculous escape from death in The Andes.
The ground was covered in snow, so following Eric’s footsteps should have been easy, but he left no footprints besides the ones following his companions. Nowhere did they find signs that he broke off from the group. Searchers found his climbing gear in an ice cave 200 feet below where he went missing.
Despite this extensive search, Eric Lewis was never found on Mt. Rainier. Why did Eric cut himself from the rope? Was he suffering from hypothermia and became confused and disorientated after sheltering in the ice cave? Did something or someone scare him, so he cut his rope? Was it suicide?
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Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier
http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201109100/Climber-Unties-from-Team-Disappears-During-Severe-Weather-Inexperienced-Climbing-Partners-Washington-Mount-Rainier-Gibraltar-Ledges
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2010/07/search-being-scaled-back-missing-climber-mount-rainier-national-park6165
