An avalanche in Ruth Gorge on Mt. Barrille killed two climbers attempting the Japanese Couloir route on the peak’s east face last week. The climbers – 33-year-old Andre Callari of Salt Lake City and 32-year-old Brian Postlethwait of Park City, Utah – were seen beginning the 10- to 15-hour climb around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15th. On Thursday afternoon, members of another climbing party notified a ranger patrol in the Ruth Gorge that the two climbers were overdue and that their skis were still sitting at the base of Mt. Barrille. Whiteout conditions on Thursday evening and most of Friday precluded a surveillance flight or a ground-based investigation. When skies cleared Friday evening, an NPS-contracted Lama helicopter flew to the peak. At approximately 9:30 p.m., two rangers on board the helicopter spotted climber tracks leading into an area where a slab avalanche had released from a shallow gully near the summit ridge. Following the fall line down, rangers saw what appeared to be two figures in avalanche debris at the base of peak. Due to flat light and decreasing visibility, the Lama and crew returned to Talkeetna. On Saturday, the Lama helicopter returned to the debris area with two mountaineering rangers. The climbers’ identities were confirmed and their bodies and gear were flown from the accident site back to Talkeetna. Mt. Barrille, at 7,650-feet, is one of the more frequently climbed peaks in the Ruth Gorge, with multiple routes ranging in technical difficulty. The Japanese Couloir is a moderate, Alaska grade III route featuring steep snow and ice.
