Doug Walker’s Body Found In Avalanche Debris On Granite Mountain In Washington’s Cascades
The American Alpine Club wrote on January 1, 2016, “We are deeply saddened by the sudden loss of AAC President Doug Walker. Doug was killed in an avalanche on Granite Mountain yesterday.” Very sad news.
Doug Walker, the American Alpine Club President, was found dead in avalanche debris on Granite Mountain near Snoqualmie Pass in Washington’s Cascades. Walker went missing on Thursday, December 31, 2015 while snowshoeing with two friends on Granite Mountain. His friends turned around near tree line and Walker, 64, went on to finish the climb on his own.
When Walker did not return to the trailhead, his friends alerted the King County Sheriff’s Office. Sixty members of King County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Unit searched for Walker through the night. According to the Seattle Times, Walker’s body was found around 10:30 am on January 1, 2016 about two miles up the mountain in avalanche debris.
The Weather Channel reports that, “Search members believe he may have been caught in an avalanche because he was found in a debris field consistent with an avalanche having occurred.” The AAC released a statement saying that, “Doug was killed in an avalanche on Granite Mountain yesterday.”
Walker was a software entrepreneur who started WRQ in 1981 and then turned his efforts toward conservation of the mountain environment. Walker’s resume is outstanding. He has served as the President of American Alpine Club since 2014. He has also been a former chairman at REI, a member of the board of at Wilderness Society, Conservation Lands Foundation, and the Sierra Club Foundation. He is the co-founder of Social Venture Partners and a former chairman at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The entire mountain community will truly miss Doug Walker. The world needs more people like him. RIP.
This incident happened in the Snoqualmie Pass region where backcountry skier Monty Busbee is also currently missing.
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Read more about Doug Walker from these sources:
