Mount Saint Helens, WA Climber Killed, Sep 1953

HEROIC EFFORTS FAIL; YOUTH PLUNGES IN CREVASSE, DIES.

Longview, Wash. (AP) -- A teen-age Portland, Ore., boy on a church outing met death Sunday when he lost his footing and plummeted 30 feet to the bottom of a rocky crevasse at the 7,000 foot level of Mt. St. Helens.
TED SAGESER, 16, died just as trained mountaineers arrived with a doctor to begin rescue efforts.
The boy slid over the edge of the crevasse despite heroic efforts of DR. RAYMOND ROY, the party's guide, to snatch him away from the brink.
He died of shock and multiple injuries after remaining conscious until the returning rescue party was heard toiling up the slopes of the 9,671 foot peak in Southwest Washington.
DR. ROY, a Portland optometrist, had raced down the mountain and travelled 60 miles to Castle Rock for help.
Young SAGESER'S fall came just after another boy in the group, JOHN KNOWLES, had slipped and went sliding toward the defile. The doctor made a desperate grab for his foot, just missing it "by inches" and almost faling into the crevasse himself.
JIM MILLER of Portland, a member of the climbing group from the Hinson Memorial Church in that city, said they talked with SAGESER while waiting for the return of the rescue party.
"The boy was okay until we heard the first party of rescuers coming," MILLER said. "When I told him we heard them, he passed out and never regained consciousness."
The dead boy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edmond Sageser of Portland, had been advised of the accident and were waiting at the timberline when the body was brought down.

Walla Walla Union Bulletin Washington 1953-09-07
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!