Solo climber thankful after Mount Logan rescue

Poor weather kept crews from Mount Logan

• A solo climber who waited four days to be rescued from Canada’s highest mountain following two earthquakes in Yukon was too exhausted to say much beyond “Thank you” to a crew that came for her, a helicopter pilot says.

Natalia Martinez, 37, was stranded on Monday, but poor weather meant she could not be plucked to safety until Thursday night, said Ian Pitchforth of Trans North Helicopters.

Pitchforth said Parks Canada had been communicating with Martinez on her satellite phone and called her to say a three- member crew would be rescuing her from a camp at Mount Logan in Kluane National Park and Reserve.

“She was packed and ready” when he landed his helicopter, Pitchforth said of the experienced climber from Argentina.

“She was pretty relieved,” he said from Haines Junction. “She was happy to see us. We asked if she was in good health and she said ‘ Yes.’ I tried not to bug her too much, you know, just let her relax a little bit.”

Pitchforth said a three- member Parks Canada team spoke with Martinez and checked her well-being, “but she was very quiet.”

Avalanche debris scattered around her camp and unstable terrain from the earthquakes stopped Martinez from continuing her climb or descending the camp on the east ridge of the mountain, at about 3,900 metres.

“The weather was pretty horrible for most of the week,” Pitchforth said, adding the forecast suggested Martinez was not expected to be rescued until Friday or Saturday.

But at 5 p.m. on Thursday, as he and Parks Canada staff were meeting to discuss a re- trieval plan, they heard from another pilot that the weather was improving, Pitchforth said.

Martinez was rescued from her camp at about 9 p. m. Thursday, Parks Canada said.

“Ms. Martinez is uninjured and was safely transported to her support team in Silver City, Yukon,” it said in a statement.

The area is a staging point for most climbing parties that head to the ice fields by ski plane.

An average of 25 climbers attempt to summit the mountain every year, but solo attempts are rare.

ICEFIELD DISCOVERY TOURS / LANCE GOODWIN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Climber Natalia Martinez, second from right, is seen Thursday after her rescue. With her are, from left, pilot Ian Pitchforth, and members of the Kluane National Parks rescue crew Sarah Chisholm, Scott Stewart and David Blakeburn.