A scan of a photocopy of a lithograph of a photo of Glacier Peak, seen from Image Lake.

The following (true story) was written during the Fall of 1980, several weeks after the described incident occurred. It was written as part of a letter that I was sending to friends in Louisiana, recounting my ordeal.

At the time, I was living in Bellingham, Washington, attending graduate school at Western Washington University. My chosen thesis involved fieldwork on the flanks of Glacier Peak, in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualamie National Forest,. My thesis advisor, Dr. Antoni (Jontek) Wodzicki, would accompany me on the initial trip to the field area. His son, Wojtek came along.

I offer this story merely as my account of the incident, to be read by those who knew Jontek and/or those who may be interested in hearing the story. Except for a few minor changes in spelling, this account is written exactly as when it was created, which was in one sitting. In no way should this be judged by its' grammar or for its' literary value. Enjoy!!

August 19th, 1980

Glacier Peak, Mt. Baker-Snoqualamie National Forest, Washington

5:00 a.m.

Equipped with warm clothes, ropes, ice axes, cramp-ons and food, we start walking west toward the summit of Glacier Peak. We begin by following goat trails up Gamma Ridge, on the east slope of Glacier Peak. The ridge is covered with meadows of heather and lupines. They're still wet from the early morning dew. Marmots whistle in the distance and goats can be seen scattering. Every 15 minutes or so, we stop to take a picture of the mountain, fearing that the clouds may come and cover the beautiful view.

We had been camping on the ridge for 3 nights and were studying the geology in the area. Gamma Ridge is capped by recent flows from the volcano, and this cap preserves the geology below. We had hoped to find evidence of recent alteration and possibly a source of geothermal energy. Our work had been hampered by low clouds for the last few days . This morning, the sky was clear and a white cap of Glacier Peak the scene towering above us. We decided it would be a good day to scale the peak.

11:00 A.M.

After several hours of hiking and climbing up the rocks we finally reach the edge of the ice(Dusty Glacier). We stop to gear up with ice equipment (axes, cramp-ons, and rope). Before heading up the ice, Jontek (our leader and my thesis adviser) gives us (myself and his son Wojtek) a few pointers on ice climbing and safety. With this in mind, we begin to walk of the ice; Jontek 1st, followed by Wojtek, and then myself. Before traveling a few yards, Wojtek dodges as small rock falling off the glacier.

Walking is slow on the ice because it is slippery and we are all roped together, taking one step at a time. Nearing the top of the glacier, we encounter a large rock face. Its' presence requires that we walk across the top of the glacier. A crevasse separates us and the rock wall. Every couple minutes we hear a rock coming over the top of the wall. We stop, watch for it, and carry on. After a short time we decide that this is not the best way to proceed so we turn around to go back around the other side of the rock wall. I start to lead and hear another rock coming. I turn my head and watch as a rock (boulder approximately 1 foot in diameter) hits Jontek and sends him into the air. Wojtek is quickly pulled with him. I drop, shove my ice ax and cramp-ons into the ice, and hold on. With Wojtek dragging his ice ax behind him, and myself dug into the ice, we are able to keep from sliding down the glacier. Did I mention how good a teacher Jontek was?

12:00 A.M.

"My leg is broken", I hear from below. Wojtek is OK, and after anchoring the ropes, we crawl down to check on Jontek. He is moaning and his face is white. After a few minutes of discussion, it is apparent that Jontek is beginning to go into shock. We want to get him off of the ice because rocks continue to fall, but he is in pain and doesn't want to be moved. His leg is bent near the hip and his words are beginning to sound unclear.

I attempt to dig a small cave to move Jontek into, but the ice is extremely hard. Wojtek is putting extra clothing on him to help prevent hypothermia. And the rocks continue to fall in the area.

I decide to go for help. Wojtek is staying with Jontek and continues to dig for shelter. After securing Jontek, he would return to camp for supplies to spend a night on the ice. I run down the mountain to camp. What had taken 3 hours to ascend, I travel down in 45 minutes.

1:15 P.M.

Wondering the outcome, I figure if I could make it to the Darrington Ranger Station by nightfall, I would have help by morning. I make it to camp, pack a backpack full of our valuables, and leave a note for Wojtek. He will be down to collect sleeping bags and supplies after digging Jontek in.

I'm at 6,000' in elevation and 18 miles from the trail head, so I start to move. It took 10 hours to hike up. The first several hours is straight downhill and my toes become well acquainted with the fronts of my boots. Trails? Switch-backs? Who needs them?. I move straight down the slope.

4:15 P.M.

Approximately 3/4's of the way down the mountain, and after many thoughts running through my head, I encounter 2 backpackers. I ask one of them for the time. He says its 4:15. Then I notice that his shirt has a patch on the shoulder and that he is wearing a name tag "DUNKLEBURGER U.S.F.S." "Wow" I say, and begin to tell him of the accident. He tells me he has a radio. "Wow", but is doesn't work from down in the valley that we are in. He would have to climb to a higher area on the ridge. I leave them with some hope. I slow up my pace a bit knowing that Dunkleburger would eventually get through on the radio and that I probably couldn't get any further help by myself this evening.

7:30 P.M.

I arrive at the trail head parking lot and rest for a few minutes in Jontek's car. It has been a 6 hour backpack since camp, and I have been hiking since daylight. Then I hear the helicopter, a relief. After a short rest, I start driving down the dirt road towards Darrington. I figure that Jontek and Wojtek are already down from the mountain so I'll have to find them. I barely travel one mile down the road when I am stopped by a sheriff's car. He says he wants me to get in a helicopter and show them where I had left Jontek. They had been up once, but hadn't spotted him. He leads me to a nearby horse pasture and "plop", a helicopter lands beside me. I grab my coat, am lifted and buckled into the helicopter, and up we go.

There are 5 men in this helicopter, each with headphones and mouthpieces, all talking to each other at the same time. The navigator is talking to me and the sheriff on the location of the accident. The paramedic is questioning me on Jontek's injuries, and the pilot is talking to someone on the ground. Wow.

The mountain just doesn't look the same from way up here. After locating myself, I show the pilot the ridge we had been climbing. All of the glaciers look the same to me. After about 15 minutes, one of the men spots Jontek, a small dot waving his hand. I don't see Wojtek, and figure he has yet to return from camp. After hovering around for several minutes, the helicopter lands next to a crevasse field. Two guys hop out with me and they head for Jontek with a stretcher. I start down the ice again and the helicopter takes off to pick up more men.

8:30 P.M.

After traveling over several ridges, I meet up with Wojtek, who is hiking up with a huge backpack. He is relieved to see me and says that he has been yelling at and waving to helicopters all afternoon. It is getting dark and we see the helicopter coming back to the glacier. We hike back to camp in the dark and eat for the first time since breakfast. After dinner we talk about the soft bed that Jontek is sleeping in.

August 20, 1980

7:00 A.M.

We wake up late the next morning to what sounds like helicopters on the mountain. Wojtek says he had heard some backpackers walk by during the early morning hours. The helicopters leave after about an hour.

10:00 A.M.

After breakfast, we pack up camp and start heading down the trail. Luckily, I had brought some of the gear down the previous day in my back pack, but we still have almost 3 person's worth of equipment and rocks to bring back, and only 2 packs; Wojtek's and Jontek's. Jontek's back pack should be thrown into the ocean. It is canvas, has heavy metal framing and no hip strap. During the long trek down, we switch packs often. It is a monster of a pack.

6:00 P.M.

Wojtek has been slowing down a bit, and I reach the trail head parking lot about 15 minute before him. At the car, I meet up with a hiker and tell him of the incident. He then tells me that he had heard that there had been a helicopter crash up on the mountain "WOW". As if we didn't have enough problems already. I decide that it is best not to tell Wojtek until we had more information.

Wojtek arrives and we drive to Darrington to find out what had happened. The Darrington Ranger Station is closed by the time we arrive. After speaking with 3 telephone operators, directory assistance, and the Darrington Police Department, we discover that Jontek is off the mountain and is in a hospital in Everett, WA. I then tell Wojtek about the helicopter crash and he says he's glad I didn't tell him sooner.

Apparently, the helicopter came back with additional help. While trying to take off, the wind caused it to flip over. It slid down the glacier until it became stuck in a crevasse. None were seriously hurt in the crash. The 8 men spent the night in the shell of the helicopter. The next morning, a Navy helicopter came and retrieved all of the men. Wow.

9:00 P.M.

So, Wojtek and I drove to Everett and found Jontek in Everett Hospital. He had a cast on his leg from his hip to his toes, but looked a whole lot better than the last time we had seen him. He was a bit drugged, and couldn't say much, but, boy were we relieved. We drove back to Bellingham. I bought a 6 pack of beer, got a rub-down, and slept.

Rick Waldron

Fall, 1980

Included below are two other articles describing the incident. The first is a news report from the Bellingham Herald from the day following the rescue. The other is from the National Enquirer of August, 1980. Jontek was embarrassed by this article and wouldn't say much about it other than that they had interviewed him while he was still under medication. At least Wojtek and I can say we made it into the National Enquirer. 

Rick Waldron

January, 2000

Thanks to Chip and Peggy Robert for saving the letter.