Seattle loses remarkable climber to Mt Wake

Mnt Rainer climbing guide, Lara-Karena Kellogg, 38 was killed on April 23rd while descending the Northeast Buttress of Mt. Wake (ca. 9,100 feet) after being forced to turn back due to snowstorms before the summit.

Lara's climbing partner, well-known Alaskan Alpineer, Jed Brown, posted the details of the incident on his website: www.59a2.org in the hopes of making climbers more aware as there had been two more deaths in 1994 at this location. Lara rappelled off the end of the rope her and Brown were using on descent and reportedly fell 1,000 feet. Her husband, Chad Kellogg, was pioneering Mt. Siguniang in China on a grant at the time.

Lara, a seasoned climber of 15 years, worked in research at the University of Washington’s Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory and was well known on Seattle’s climbing arena.