July 1, 2009, 3:03 pm
Five years after Mount Rainier took his best friend, Scott Richards can finally tell the story without crying.But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.
"It's still vivid," Richards said. "I'm still sad."
On May 15, 2004, Peter Cooley, an Ivy League-educated marketing director from Maine, tripped while scaling a steep spine known as Liberty Ridge on Rainier's northwestern face.
His fall set in motion one of the most intensive rescue attempts the park has ever seen and a heroic effort by Richards to keep his friend alive. For two days rescuers battled nasty weather to get to the climbers while Richards waged a desperate fight to care for Cooley.
Today, as another Liberty Ridge climbing season winds down, the incident still resonates with those who tried to save Cooley.
People like Mike Gauthier, former leader of the park's climbing program, and Ralph Bell, a former park sign-maker and crisis liaison specialist, are trained to stay emotionally detached during and after catastrophic incidents.
But they say that was impossible as this story played out with a frustrating waiting game, an exhilarating airlift rescue and a devastating letdown.
"What those guys went through, how Scott acted so heroically, that sticks with you," Bell said. "You just wish it had a better ending."
