Yesterday on Snoqualmie Pass, WA was a tough day for all who ventured on the slopes of the Summit at Snoqualmie not to mention those who headed up the Commonwealth to find Monika. The weather started out just before first light w/ overcast skies and temps at pass level in the low 20s and at 5,400′ 35 deg. Soon after the precip came down as rain freezing to the first surface it contacted. The inverted conditions would make travel very difficult at lower elevations and now increasing avalanche dangers at the higher elevations. The search was called off for safety reasons in the afternoon. The media had a few clips, kiro news being the best, to give you a look at the backside of Red Mountain, but their clips cut off too soon. I just realized on a trip w/ Trooper dog this past Summer I had taken a clip of Red Mountain’s backside from peak 5,851′. At 1:02 into video below you can see the entire cliff on the NE face where Monika is believed to fallen with the cornice. Seeing this you might better understand what has happened and how hard it is to get into that zone on foot/skis for the search and rescue folks with out the aid of the helicopters.
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