Claire Kultgen watched in horror as four friends slipped down Mount Rainier thousands of feet above her.

She had planned to climb the 14,411-foot mountain last Thursday as part of a five-member group from Waco.

But feeling tired and out of shape, she stayed back at base camp and periodically checked their progress through binoculars, she said.

“They just slipped and fell,” Kultgen said. “Certainly, I think God put me down there so I could see it and get help.”

(Left to right) Climbers Stuart Smith, Stacy Wren and Ross VanDyke were three of four climbers involved in a fall and subsequent rescue on Mount Rainier last week.

Kultgen alerted two park rangers, who were nearby, and watched a major rescue effort unfold.

“If you want to see professionals, it’s those guys,” Kultgen told the Tribune-Herald on Monday. “It was awesome watching them respond.”

The four climbers were roped together and descending the mountain when two of them, Stacy Wren and Noelle Smith, fell into a crevasse on Emmons Glacier at the 13,700-foot level, according to Mount Rainier National Park officials.

The other climbers, Stuart Smith and Ross VanDyke, stopped the fall and prevented them all from falling to the bottom.

Park rangers rescued Stuart Smith, Noelle Smith and VanDyke by helicopter Thursday and walked down the mountain with Wren the next day after bad weather grounded flights.

During the initial rescue effort, ranger Nick Hall, who had helped the three onto the helicopter, fell about 2,500 feet to his death.

Kultgen declined to say exactly what she saw, saying the climbers had met and agreed not to publicly discuss details of the accident or their medical conditions.

“I can tell you they’re all really getting better,” Kultgen said. “Everybody’s in really good spirits and making very good progress.”

Three of the rescued climbers remained in fair condition Monday at Madigan Army Medical Center, spokesman Jay Ebbeson said.

The hospital would not identify them or specify their injuries. The park said they were battered and may have suffered broken bones in the accident.

Wren apparently did not require hospitalization.

Praising heroes

Efforts to reach Wren and her family were unsuccessful. In a Facebook update Saturday, her mother called the rescue “miraculous” and praised the rescuers as heroes.

“There is no logical reason that any of them should be alive except for the sacrifice that the Rangers and the Army rescue teams made, along with all of your prayers and the HUGE hand of God,” Mindy Johnson Wren wrote. “We are so thankful beyond words. Please continue to keep Ranger Nick’s family in your prayers.”

The National Park Service sent more rangers to the park Monday to help recover Hall’s body, but it could be midweek before anyone can reach the site, a spokeswoman said.

At least 3 feet of snow has fallen since the accident, said Jacqueline Ashwell, superintendent of Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Seattle, who is helping at Rainier park headquarters at Ashford.

“All of the snow over the weekend has created more dangerous avalanche conditions at the site where Nick has come to rest,” she said.

Helicopters were standing by Monday to retrieve Hall’s body. But with a 60 percent chance of more snow, the probability of recovery was slim until a break in the weather expected Wednesday, Ashwell said.

Hall, 33, originally from Patten, Maine, was a four-year veteran of the park’s climbing ranger program. He was single with no children.

Stuart Smith is a Waco attorney and an accomplished climber who has scaled Mount Everest and other major peaks.

Noelle Smith is his niece, and VanDyke is assistant director of admissions counseling and recruitment for Baylor University.

Elizabeth Smith, Stuart Smith’s wife, declined to comment on her husband’s condition Monday, saying it was a private matter.

“Everybody’s injured but recovering quickly,” Kultgen said. “They’re doing good.”

Kultgen encouraged the public to donate to a memorial fund for Hall and a park search-and-rescue fund.

The mountain, boldly visible on a clear day from Seattle 85 miles to the northwest, is a major attraction.

About 10,000 people a year attempt to climb it, and about half make it. Extensive glaciers and sudden weather changes make it dangerous.

Two climbers and two campers disappeared on the mountain in January and remain missing.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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