Article Taken From The Marin Independant Journal

Two hikers die, many trapped in Sierra snowstorm

By Ben Margot, Associated Press
Thursday, October 21, 2004

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK - A fierce storm that started over the weekend turned deadly yesterday, claiming the lives of two Japanese climbers in Yosemite National Park and stranding several groups of backpackers high in the Central Sierra.

The climbers were spotted Tuesday by Yosemite rangers but could not be reached because of driving wind and snow. A helicopter crew took off yesterday as the storm began to clear and spotted the pair dangling lifeless about two-thirds of the way up the 3,200-foot face, park ranger Deb Schweizer said.

"They weren't moving," she said. "They didn't seem well-equipped."

Rangers expected to be able to retrieve the bodies today.

The Japanese men were among seven people on the famous El Capitan climbing wall when the brunt of the storm hit on Tuesday, Schweizer said. A solo climber was rescued yesterday, while rangers reached a man and a woman but would remain with them on the face overnight, Schweizer said.

The other climbers just asked for extra supplies and were not considered in danger by rangers.

"It's very miserable conditions," she said. "It was something up here."

Elsewhere in the Sierra yesterday, rescuers pummeled by heavy snow and strong winds struggled to reach several groups of backpackers who were caught off-guard by the fierce and persistent storm. It swooped across much of California from the Gulf of Alaska over the weekend.

The blizzard raged at higher elevations through much of the day, frustrating rescuers who labored against 4-foot-deep snow and 50 mph wind gusts to reach the areas where the hikers were thought to be.

Anxious family members were in regular contact with those coordinating at least three separate rescue operations in Fresno and Madera counties.

"I just believe that we're going to find them. It seems foolish to undertake this (hike). But in all fairness, they didn't know this storm was coming," said Rita Bargetto, the sister of one of the missing hikers. "We just hope and pray they were smart enough to know they shouldn't have moved when the snow came."

The 10 stranded hikers included two groups of experienced backpackers and a couple from San Luis Obispo County who apparently set out for a day hike.

Four members of a Santa Cruz County winemaking family have been missing since Sunday at a 9,400-foot-elevation lake east of Fresno in the Sierra National Forest.

A break in the weather late yesterday allowed the Fresno County Sheriff's Department to dispatch a helicopter toward the group's location. If the hikers were spotted, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was prepared to drop supplies, sheriff's officer Robert Osborn said.

Another group of four, close friends from the Lafayette, were reported missing Tuesday morning and were believed to be in the Ansel Adams Wilderness on the southern fringe of Yosemite National Park.

The four men caught in Yosemite - Jeff Peacock, 45, his father, 75-year-old Tom Peacock, Douglas Schneider, 47, and Britt Jefferson, 57 - were described as experienced backpackers who had camped in snow previously and were prepared for bad weather.

"They went extremely well-equipped, and we take huge comfort in that," said Cindy Schneider, who said her husband is a biochemist for Berlex BioSciences in Richmond. "They're all extremely knowledgeable about backpacking. They've been doing it since they were tykes."

Rescuers, including searchers riding snowmobiles, were thwarted in their attempts to find the group yesterday. Continued bad weather turned away a military helicopter that had been dispatched from Mather Air Force Base east of Sacramento, said Erica Stuart, a spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff's Department.

A third rescue attempt was being made to find a man and a woman missing in the Dinkey Creek area east of Fresno, also in the Sierra National Forest. They were identified as John Baumgarner and Shana McCarthy and were believed to have started on a two- to three-mile hike to Mystery Lake when they were caught in the storm, said Lt. Toby Rien of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department.

He said rescuers were fighting conditions they described as "whiteout, zero visibility."

The storm brought 6-to-10 inches of snow along the Sierra's western slope, on top of the 2-to-3 feet that had been dumped since the weekend. It was expected to taper off last night, said Mark Burger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Hanford.

Yesterday's conditions initially forced the team searching for the Santa Cruz County family to turn back and regroup, Rien said.

Paul Bargetto, 47, a member of the family that owns Bargetto Vineyards, his brother-in-law Frank Horath, 45, and their sons, Michael Bargetto, 20, and Dominic Horath, 16, began their hike Friday at Courtright Reservoir, in a remote area northeast of Fresno.

Family members became worried when they didn't return by Sunday night.

Rescuers found the family's car at the reservoir and were trying to hike the same route the missing group was supposed to take, a 1,200-foot climb to Rae Lake.