Body of Washington ice cave collapse victim recovered

VERLOT, Wash. - The body of a woman killed in the collapse of a Washington state ice cave has been removed from the cave.

The Snohomish County sheriff's office says they recovered the body of the 34-year-old woman and transported her Tuesday around 4 p.m. Tuesday to the Snohomish County medical examiner's office, where her identity will be confirmed.

Five other people were injured Monday in the collapse at the Big Four Ice Caves.

Among those injured Monday, a 25-year-old man in intensive care was in serious condition, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said, while a 35-year-old man was in satisfactory condition and a 35-year-old woman was treated and released. Two minors also were treated and released from another hospital.

Search and rescue personnel worked with an avalanche technician from the Washington State Department of Transportation, using small to dislodge debris and check for stability of the ice. Then technical rescue teams were able to reach the victim and hoist her out with a helicopter.

Authorities reminded the public again on Tuesday to stay out of the caves.

Thousands of visitors each year make the easy 1-mile trek to glimpse spectacular snow and ice formations at the Big Four Ice Caves in Washington state.

But the attraction that has made the forested hike one of the most popular in the region has also made it dangerous.

The ice caves area is prone to avalanches, falling rocks and ice, and visitors are urged not to leave the trail or enter the caves. Many people still wander in and around them, however, enticed by the icy cavernous openings formed from avalanches that cascade down the 6,135-foot Big Four Mountain during the winter and spring.

Signs warn visitors of the hazards from ice and rock at the popular hiking destination about 70 miles northeast of Seattle. At the trailhead to the caves, a sign posted at an information kiosk warns: "People have been killed and injured in and on the ice caves - be safe, not sorry!"

Warm weather has made the caves unstable this season, and access to the ice caves has been closed until further notice. Temperatures in the area Monday were in the 80s.

There have been deaths at the caves before. In July 2010, an 11-year-old girl was killed outside the caves by a bouncing chunk of ice.

A different section tumbled down Sunday, but none of those hikers inside was injured.

"It was a very terrifying moment," said Sara Soleimani, an avid ice climber who filmed Sunday's partial cave collapse and said she heard ice cracking just a few seconds before a chunk of the cave sheared off.

"I was shaking for about 10 minutes after," said Soleimani, 29, of Long Beach, California.

Hikers, including many families with children, take a well-maintained trail to reach the ice caves, which are the lowest elevation permanent snow and ice patch in the United States outside of Alaska. People go to the area surrounding the caves for the spectacular mountain scenery and to escape the summer heat.

"These ice caves became famous after people started posting amazing photos of them on Instagram," said Rachel Samanyi, 38, of Seattle, who has visited three times, though she has only gone inside the cave once. "I think people are curious about them because ice caves are one of the amazing wonders of nature."

Scott Pattee, a water supply specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said this year's snowpack has been almost non-existent, and with so little snow, there have been fewer avalanches to feed the ice caves.

"It doesn't surprise me that something like that happens. Ice melts when it's warm," he said.

Chloe Jakubowski, 18, told The Seattle Times that she and a handful of other people were in the cave when she heard a loud crack, then ice and debris cascaded down. She said she covered her head with her arms and crouched behind a giant rock of ice. When she stood up, a woman next to her lay unconscious.

She said she saw the warning signs outside but went in anyway, because she didn't see anything that seemed to point toward a collapse and others were already in the cave.

Jakubowski told the newspaper that she and three friends drove about 15 miles to a pay phone to alert emergency crews. There was no cellphone service at the remote cave site.

"Our biggest problem with rescue operations in this area has always been communication," sheriff's office search and rescue Sgt. Danny Wikstrom said in a statement. There is no cellphone coverage area for several miles and radio communication can be spotty because of the terrain, he added.