Chelan County Mountain Rescue, and the Sheriff’s Department along with a US Army helicopter crew, put forth an epic rescue attempt to reach a pair of stranded hikers west of Cashmere, WA.   The area where they were located is circled in our image.

    Oklahoma Woman Dies in Snow, Cold Weather

The CCSO has released information about a multi-day rescue attempt to get to a pair of hikers who put out a text to 9-1-1 on Friday, September 12th. around 5:36 PM.  The caller said he and his wife were trapped in the “core’ of the Enchantments, a series of rugged mountains and challenging terrain about 24 miles west of Cashmere.

A few moments later, the male advised his wife was under a warming blanket, and they were in about 1-2 feet of snow.  Storms has dumped significant snowfall in the area, and the pair were 8-10 miles away from the nearest trailhead.

  Attempts to Get a Helicopter to the Site Initially Failed

Storms kept an Army helicopter from being able to reach the couple, but 2 attempts, including one around 10:50 PM were unsuccessful due to weather.  Chelan County Mountain Rescue Workers had earlier begun the trek in on foot, and around 3:30 AM arrived at the scene. They unfortunately found the woman was deceased, they were able to warm the man in a tent.

The next day, weather cleared and the chopper was able to land and retrieve the woman’s body.  She was positively identified as 45-year-old Sybil Claborn from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  The man’s name was not released.

Officials say it’s sadly another example of how quickly conditions can change in the area, or any mountain zone in WA, and hikers need to make sure they have proper equipment, and check weather conditions and reports before venturing into the wilderness.

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