Body of 19-year-old climber recovered at Dragontail Peak

The body of a deceased climber on the north face of Dragontail Peak was successfully recovered on July 4, after a previous attempt on July 2 failed.

Matthew Trinkle, a 19-year-old climber from Ellensburg, was the victim of a significant fall near the summit of Dragontail Peak, west of Leavenworth.

The Chelan County Sheriff's Office and Chelan County Mountain Rescue members along with helicopters from both Chelan County and Snohomish County Sheriff's Office spent July 2 evaluating the safest possible method to recover the body, which was just off a steep slope in the gulley on the mountainside.

Jeff Paton, from Chelan County Mountain Rescue, said there were four options available to retrieve the climber. The first was to rappel down to the body and prepare him for a helicopter lift. The second was to drop two climbers from a helicopter on a ledge and have the helicopter fly away while the two rescuers climbed to the body and transported him with rope work to an area where the helicopter could bring him out.

"The final plan was to have Snohomish County use their helicopter, which is considerably more powerful than ours and has a hoist they could directly lower a man out of the helicopter on that hoist, one or two people to prepare the body, lift the body out and then the climbers," Paton said.

Snohomish County was on a rive rescue at the time so the Chelan County rescue team tried to rappel down to the body.

Rocks were too slippery when the Snohomish team went to remove the body on July 2. A member of the recovery crew didn't feel safe enough being there, so he decided the body would need to be removed under safer conditions.

"It's very technical up there," said Chelan County Chief of Operations, John Wisemore. "Tuesday, the weather didn't work out but we brought another team yesterday [July 4] and successfully got him out."

Trinkle's roommate, in Ellensburg, called the Chelan County Sheriff's Office and mentioned Trinkle wanted to go to Leavenworth Saturday morning to climb Dragontail Peak in one day and be home by Saturday night. Wisemore said some climbers are able to do the climb in one day but for most people it takes two days.

"I know the lure to the mountains is very great but they aren't anything to disrespect. The Dragontail Peak is world class but we seem to have one fatality a year up there," Wisemore said.

Trinkle's vehicle was located at the Stuart Lake trailhead on July 1 at night by a deputy. The deputy was contacted by a group of climbers who had ascended Dragontail Peak earlier that morning and came across the body of a deceased climber in a rock gulley. The climbers spent most of the day descending the mountain and reported the discovery as soon as they were able to.

On July 4, the Chelan County Sheriff's Office search and rescue coordinators worked with a Snohomish County Helicopter crew (SnoHawk10) to recover Trinkle, who was stuck on a ledge around two-thirds of the way up the mountain, approximately the 7,600 feet level of the mountain.

Three two-man Chelan County Rescue teams went to the bottom of the summit to climb up incase the helicopter wouldn't be able to make it in. Stewart Hoover, Erik Lindblom, Kyle Flick, Adam Vognild, Vern Nelson, and Thanhvan Tran made up the three rope teams that started climbing at first light on the morning of July 4.

They were about 200 feet below the climber when the helicopter lowered, Oyzind, a Swedish man from the Snohomish Search and Rescue team, to harness Trinkle.

The three climbing teams finished the route and got home around midnight.

"They got him out of there in about five minutes. There was no wind. It was a perfect day for a rescue," Paton said.

At first, Trinkle appeared to have been free climbing a route to the summit of Dragontail Peak. However, Paton said Trinkle had no climbing gear with him and was not wearing climbing shoes so it's possible he hiked up on the trail and fell while looking over the ledge.

"It would be almost unheard of do those routes in the mountaineering shoes," Paton said. "Stewart Hoover found tracks coming down the summit as if the deceased had fallen. It's very probable he had walked down the summit a ways to peer down the edge, the snow gave away, and at that point he fell 1,100 feet to his resting place."

Paton said that is the most likely scenario but no one will ever know.

Chelan County Sheriff's Office said there were no witnesses to the accident and Trinkle was alone. Even though the probable cause was not due to climbing, Wisemore wants climbers in the area to be weary of the dangers possible.

"Climbing by yourself is never recommended. I don't know his [Trinkle] expertise but it's always safer to go with someone else. If there is a situation where you get in trouble it's good to have someone there to help you," Wisemore said.

The body has been released to the Chelan County Coroner's Office and Trinkle's parents have flown in from the East Coast to make arrangements for the body. Trinkle was a student at Central Washington University.

Kacie Thrift may be reached at 548-5286 or reporter@cashmerevalleyrecord.com.