3 climbers die in fall in Washington state

Three climbers died in Washington state when an anchor apparently failed as they were descending in a steep gulley Sunday, the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said.

Three climbers died in Washington state when an anchor apparently failed as they were descending in a steep gulley Sunday, the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office said.

A fourth member of the climbing party in the North Early Winters Spire area survived and called authorities after the accident around 11:30 a.m., it said.

The group was rappelling, which is when an anchored line is used to descend on a very steep or vertical face, with the line used to slow the descent, the sheriff’s office said.

Emergency personnel respond to a climbing accident approximately 16 miles west of Mazama, Wash., on Sunday.Okanogan County Sheriff Office via Facebook“The presumed cause of the accident is an anchor failure while rappelling, with more investigation still ongoing,” the sheriff’s office said.

The names of the climbers were not released, but the sheriff’s office said they were 36, 47, and 63 years old and from Renton, a city just southeast of Seattle.